Minutes: S. Jones made a motion to approve the minutes from the December 5, 2011 meeting. Reavis seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Appropriations:

December (12): S. Jones inquired about the payment to Davis Manley for Court Services.Keefer stated when there is a conflict with Cami Baker then other attorneys fill in.S. Jones inquired about the payment to Kansas Secured Title.Keefer stated it was for the title searches related to the Ohio/Kelly Intersection project.S. Jones inquired about the payment to WB Carter Construction and the inclusion of a change order for the Spillway and Dam project.S. Jones stated the council was assured there would likely be no change orders.S. Jones made a motion to remove the change order amount from the appropriation ordinance.Wallace seconded the motion.Motion carried with Childers, Reavis, and Rawlings voting in opposition.Keefer stated he would have to defer to Martin Goedecke for an explanation of the change order.

Goedecke stated that WB Carter made a unit price bid and the reason it was bid that way was to better be able to compare bids.Goedecke stated there were two areas included in the change order.The first was for the parking area off the Garvin Park road on the hill on the south side.Goedecke stated the area where the waterline went through appeared to be gravel, but was discovered to be pavement under the gravel.Goedecke stated if it had been known at the time it would have been included in the bid specs and all the bids would have included the additional units.Goedecke stated the other change order item was on the Mulvane waterline.Goedecke stated we didn’t know specifically where the connections to the line would have been, that the City could have taken care of that prior to the work being done but it would have added cost and risked damaging the waterline.

Williams stated the concept of change orders is an everyday occurrence and is not an error or omission, but rather not being able to foresee something.Williams stated she is amazed that this has blow up to what it is.S. Jones stated the original document dated April 14th said the Mulvane waterline project included an area with an issue of ongoing leaks.S. Jones stated that because Goedecke has had a long term relationship of doing work for the City, she is surprised he wasn’t aware of what roads in the city are asphalt and gravel.S. Jones stated she thinks it is an error or omission.Goedecke stated the water leak covered a 25 to 50 feet area of wet ground.S. Jones asked if the area was surveyed.Goedecke stated it wasn’t.

Wallace stated that no one was saying we’re not going to pay it, but that they want to hold it up until they know it is valid.Wallace stated it is common practice for an engineer to bit the bullet on something like this.Williams stated she doesn’t think you’re going to find anyone who will know everything under the surface of our roads.Williams stated this is a per unit price and that any bidder would have added this to their bid.Wallace stated that sometimes someone other than the city should have to bite the bullet on this.Goedecke stated it sounds like you are saying it is someone’s fault.Goedecke stated asking for unit price bids actually help reduce the city’s cost and that if you ask the contractor to take on that added risk the prices of your bids will go up.

Williams stated we received a product and now are not going to pay for it.Williams asked the council what additional information they want to unearth.S. Jones stated that WB Carter needs to be paid, but not necessarily by the city.Rawlings stated that it was the city that threw the gravel on top of that parking lot to save money instead of putting down new asphalt, and that is the city’s fault.Rawlings stated if we had asked Goedecke to survey the waterline leak that would have been added to his fees.Rawlings stated he thinks this is foolish.Goedecke stated he thought the city wanted that work completed.

Wallace stated the council was asked to approve a change order without allowing them a chance to discuss it.Reavis asked what information would satisfy Wallace enough to pay it.S. Jones stated the council was told there would be no change orders.Goedecke stated he did not anticipate a change order.Childers stated that he thinks Wallace is saying the council needs to be satisfied with the information to be paid, and with that Childers made a motion to reinstate the change order payment into the appropriations ordinance.Reavis seconded the motion.Motion carried with S. Jones and Huddleston voting in opposition.

Huddleston inquired about the payment to Mabel Brotton.Keefer stated the city repaired a transformer in her back yard and this is reimbursing her for damage to her yard.Huddleston inquired about the payments to TASC.Keefer stated it was payment for the administration of the city’s Health Reimbursement Account.Wallace made a motion to approve Ordinance 12 in the amount of $613,548.86.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Visitors:

Matt Harrelson, 1134 School, addressed the governing body about City Code 2-210 limiting the number of animals per household.Harrelson stated he has four dogs and that other cities such as Wichita and El Dorado allow for more than three animals.Wallace stated that Harrelson owns two separate addresses side by side.Wallace stated the council limited the number because there were so many people that had several animals, but that he thinks this is something the council should give some thought to.Huddleston stated the ordinance limits the combination of cats and dogs to three and that maybe there is a more equitable way of doing it.Harrelson stated he has a January 3rd court date.Mr. All stated the ordinance has been in place for several years and that what is or isn’t enough animals can be debated.Huddleston stated the ordinance as written says “each house”.Reavis asked if Harrelson could apply for a kennel license.Keefer stated that is the only alternative at this time, but that the Planning Commission has never approved one in a residential area.Keefer stated if someone applies for a kennel license a public hearing has to be held to get input from the neighbors.Huddleston stated we need to address if three is reasonable number.Wallace stated that when this was drafted, three sounded fair to him because you have to draw a line somewhere.But, Wallace stated, Harrelson maintains two addresses.Huddleston stated the ordinance says “per household”, not per address.Dan Allen stated that more people show up to these public hearings than most any other.Huddleston stated he thinks there are other ordinances in place to handle the animals that are a nuisance rather than limiting the number of animals.Williams stated keeping the lower number of animals allowed helps limit the nuisance.There was a consensus from the governing body to review the ordinance and the number of animals allowed in a residential area.

Sergeant Chad McCluskey was present to introduce the newest addition to the Public Safety Department, new K-9 Rico.McCluskey stated that he and Rico had nine weeks of training and that Rico officially started work on November 21st.McCluskey stated they have assisted with eight calls so far.McCluskey thanked the donors who assisted with the purchase of the new K-9.Wallace stated he is still curious how much the dog is used by the County.McCluskey stated that all but one of the eight calls they have taken occurred in the city.Wallace stated he would like an annual report of that.Chief Brewer stated he believes that is included in his annual report.

Jamie VanDever, 8th Grade Teacher at Augusta Middle School, was present to introduce some of his and Stephanie Brown’s students.VanDever thanked the council for allowing their students to present their projects.VanDever stated they started using project based learning and instructed the students to come up with a building, business, or center that would benefit the community and that these two groups were chosen to have the best presentations.VanDever also stated that Williams and Childers assisted the students during the process.

The first project group proposed a gaming palace/arcade and was presented by Ashley Clark, Chastity Ates, and Elayne Rye.They stated that their purpose was to find kids something to do that would keep them out of trouble.It would include game machines, a change machine, music, concessions, and a lounge area for adults and would be located next to the Augusta Historical Theatre.The students stated that kids need a play to go after school to stay out of trouble that would be cost effective, fun, and safe and would also be a perfect place for families.The students showed pictures of the 3-D model they created of the space.Williams thanked the students for their presentation and ideas.

The second project group proposed a bowling alley with go karts, an arcade, and restaurant and was presented by Blayke Dehlinger and Brandon Denoncourt.The students stated there would be five bowling lanes with one adult only lane.They stated that it would give kids a place to go after school and that seniors would benefit from the bowling and restaurant.The students then presented a 3-D computer generated model of the facilities.Williams thanked them for their presentation and ideas.

VanDever stated this is the first project of this type and he is very impressed by what they came up with and glad to have the chance to come present it to the governing body.Huddleston stated that kids don’t seem to think there are activities for them in town.VanDever agreed and stated they think there is very little for them to do.Huddleston suggested a future project on something the city could do to improve that.VanDever stated that there were some projects along those lines, but that these were the two that were chosen to be presented.

Old Business:

Special Alcohol Grant:Malone made a motion to approve a supplemental Special Alcohol Grant for the Family Life Center-Safe House in the amount of $2,500.Huddleston seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

New Business:

Public Hearing:A public hearing was conducted to take input on whether a structure (garage) at 654 Santa Fe is considered to be an unsafe and dangerous structure.The owner was not present for the hearing, nor was anyone with a financial interest in the property. Dan Allen stated he has been sending letters to this property owner as far back as 2008 and has spoken to him on several occasions.Allen stated the owner told him it would be taken care of before tonight’s meeting, but there has been no progress.Allen stated the property owner is fully aware of the issue but has said he doesn’t have the time or money to make the repairs.Williams stated if the resolution is passed tonight, he has 90 days to make the repairs before the city takes action.Williams stated for it to get this far, it really has to be an unsafe situation and that it is not fair to the neighborhood or community to allow it to stay in this state.Rawlings asked if there are children living near this property.Allen stated there are.Williams closed the public hearing.

Wallace mad a motion to approve Resolution 2011-22 finding that a structure (garage) at 654 Santa Fe is unsafe and dangerous and directing that the structure be repaired or demolished and premises made safe and secure.Rawlings seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.Wallace stated there are several other buildings in that area that need to be addressed.

Budget Amendment: A public hearing was conducted to take input on amending the 2011 Budget.After there were no comments from the public, the hearing was closed.Wallace asked if the amendment to the Emergency Communication Fund was for the same two servers that are to be discussed later on the agenda.Keefer stated they are and that only one would be paid for out of the Emergency Communication Fund.Wallace stated that IT people he knows have told him we are really getting stiffed.Huddleston asked if the Emergency Communication Fund is made up of 911 funds we receive.Keefer stated it is the 911 fund.Huddleston asked if the servers are for the 911 services.Keefer stated they support the 911 software.Director of Public Safety Tyler Brewer stated the department has five servers and one of their main functions is to run their CAD system.Huddleston stated the State has funds they issue grants for and that what we use those funds for must be directly related to E911.Brewer stated he is aware of that and that he had already checked to make sure this meets that criteria.

Huddleston stated if we purchase this equipment now, will it meet the EG911 standards.Brewer stated it would and that he already has the next generation 911.Brewer stated that technology changes so fast, but that we need a server system that is more robust and our current software is obsolete.Captain Bruce Relph stated that the next generation phones are tied into the server.Huddleston asked if this is proper use of these 911 funds.Brewer stated it is.Huddleston asked why there are three 911 systems in Butler County. Brewer stated that prior to his arrival to the city there was a decision made to keep our 911 center.Brewer stated he was thankful for that decision and that the response time to our community is much faster because of that.

Malone made a motion to approve amending the 2011 budget as proposed.Reavis seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Change Order:S. Jones stated that in Willis Wilson’s memo it states that the clarifiers were manufactured with a metal duct with a rectangular opening and asked if this is something that was included in the specs or if this was optional.S. Jones asked how it is that we didn’t know how these were manufactured. Wilson stated that this was part of the original plant construction in 2001 and that Aqua Tech was not the engineer on that project.Wilson stated the clarifiers have never been emptied since then and no one has ever seen them.Reavis made a motion to approve Change Order #2 for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Project.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Snow Removal Agreement: Wallace made a motion to approve an agreement with the Augusta Senior Center for snow removal and mowing assistance.Malone seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Bids:Council considered approval of bids for the purchase of a replacement server, software upgrade and installation for the Safety Department.Brewer stated the server that runs the video is insufficient and that their application and file servers have run out of space.Brewer stated that Microsoft 2000 is obsolete and no longer supported.Brewer stated he contacted several vendors and requested bids from three vendors, but only ISG and ItKansas provided bids.Brewer stated that ISG is well aware of their system and needs and came out to evaluate that but ItKansas did not.Brewer stated the $5,000 difference is in the set-up.E. Jones stated ItKansas works on the server at city hall and that they do good work, but she would be concerned about their response time to issues.S. Jones inquired about the hardware vendor.Brewer stated it would be HP or IBM depending on what bid is approved.Huddleston inquired about the total cost.Brewer stated it would be whichever bid was approved plus the cost for SLEUTH to complete the data migration for the new server.Huddleston stated we are looking at $22,000 to $25,000 then.Wallace asked Relph which server he would prefer.Relph stated his biggest fear is the after service.Relph stated ISG made the bid and services as is because they’ve worked with us since 2005 and have worked with SLEUTH.Relph stated he hates to spend the additional money, but his recommendation would be the bid from ISG.Childers made a motion to approve the bid from ISG in the amount of $20,805.74.Huddleston seconded the motion.Motion carried with Rawlings voting in opposition.S. Jones stated the cost of the hardware is very reasonable.

Cemetery Endowment Fund:Wallace made a motion to a approve Resolution 2011-23 authorizing the City of Augusta to use funds from the Cemetery Endowment fund for the upkeep and maintenance of the cemetery.Childers seconded the motion.Reavis asked if this resolution is only for this one time purchase or if it is forever binding.Mr. All stated it is intended just for the purchase of the mini excavator.Motion carried with Huddleston voting in opposition.

Court Appointed Attorney Services:Malone asked if someone fills in for Cami Baker if they use the same pay structure.Keefer stated they do.Huddleston asked if collect calls from jail is part of the cost of representing indigents.Mr. All stated it is because they have to have access to their attorney.Childers made a motion to approve a letter agreement with Cami Baker & Associates for Court Appointed Attorney Services for Municipal Court for 2012.Malone seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP):Council considered an appeal from Wade Wilkinson to be readmitted to the City’s Neighborhood Revitalization Program.Keefer stated that all of Wilkinson’s 2010 taxes have been paid in full.Wallace stated he is making headway.Malone asked what would happen if he doesn’t pay the ones due tomorrow.Keefer stated the three lots that he has applied for the NRP have been paid for 2010 and 2011, but if he were to pull an application for another property he will have to make sure all taxes have been paid for that property.Huddleston stated that part of application was sent to the County Appraiser’s Office, why did they not check to see if the taxes were paid.Dan Allen stated Wilkinson had never been a problem so his office didn’t worry about checking to make sure the taxes were paid.Allen stated the completed all the paperwork and sent it in then a couple of months later the County notified them that the taxes had not been paid.Huddleston stated the plan says the County will respond within 15 working days of their concurrence of the city’s initial approval.Allen stated the city sends in the preliminary document and it is our responsibility to make sure the taxes were paid and we didn’t.Huddleston stated it seems like the County should have told us when they originally approved it.Huddleston stated he thinks there is a flaw in our program because when we submit it to the County, the County is not doing their part.Huddleston asked how we can guard against this happening in the future.Allen stated he will be making sure that all taxes are paid before sending the applications in to the County.Williams stated we want to do what is best for Augusta.

Huddleston asked if Allen is making sure the applicants are completing Part 2 of the application.Allen stated he is.Huddleston asked what would happen if it were not done by January, how long Part 2 would carry out.Allen stated the permit is only good for one year.Rawlings stated the City of Wichita had an issue with that a few years ago and had to reissue basement permits due to the economy.Huddleston asked how many properties Wilkinson is applying to the NRP for.Allen stated three properties.Huddleston inquired about limits to the number of applications.Shaw stated it is one application per property.

Wallace made a motion to approve readmitting Wade Wilkinson to the City’s Neighborhood Revitalization Program.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Utility Collections and Write Offs:Wallace made a motion to approve the annual Utility Collections and Account Write Offs that are considered not collectable.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried with Huddleston voting in opposition.

Convention and Tourism Bureau Grant:Reavis stated they requested $1,000 on the grant application but were only approved for $500 and asked if there was a reason.Keefer stated that some of the items they were asking for did not qualify.Reavis made a motion to approve a Convention and Tourism Bureau Grant for the Augusta Powerlifting Club in the amount of $500.Malone seconded the motion.Huddleston asked if the city will get a banner hung at the event.Keefer stated there is supposed to be a Convention and Tourism Bureau banner at the event and printed on the t-shirts.Motion carried without opposition.

Huddleston stated that everything always lists this group as the Convention and Tourism Bureau and some list it as the Convention and Tourism Board, but that neither is correct.Huddleston stated Resolution 2003-8 lists it as the Convention and Tourism Committee.Williams stated that how the group is listed does not invalidate it.Huddleston stated that it should be referred to with the correct title.Keefer stated he would check the by-laws to find the official name.

Work Sessions:Childers made a motion to approve a work session on Monday, January 9 at 7 p.m. to review and discuss the Playground Analysis report with the Park Board and on Monday, January 23 at 7 p.m. to review and discuss the draft of the updated Personnel Manual.Reavis seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Informational Memorandum:

Williams – Williams stated the city manager evaluations are due so please turn those in today.

S. Jones – Jones stated that in the Monthly Report from the Safety Department it says that Marbut made provisions to the Augusta Lake failure plan and asked if those changes will be presented to the governing body.Keefer stated that were required to update that as part of the Spillway and Dam Project.Jones stated she would like to see that.Keefer stated he would provide that information when it is prepared.Wallace stated the same report stated that Brewer revised the 911 Ordinance and asked if that will be presented to the governing body for approval.Keefer stated it would.

Final Comments:

Huddleston – Huddleston asked if it is possible to put a different email and fax number for him on the city’s website.Shaw stated he could.Huddleston stated that some time back we approved an energy audit and inquired about the status of that.Shaw stated that it was completed and that they came up with some recommendations, but after discussing it internally it was determined that we are already following their recommendations.Huddleston asked if the council will get a synopsis of that.Shaw stated they would.Shaw stated that if we are already following the recommendations staff did not think it was in our best interest to participate in the program.

Huddleston inquired about the rental of signs at the Airport.Shaw stated they have all been paid.Childers stated the illuminated sign seems to be out often and never seems to be illuminated.Shaw stated that they are solar lights, so it depends on the day.Shaw stated that it has been pretty cloudy lately.

Huddleston stated there has been a lot of work done at the intersection of Main and Ohio, but that it seems like there is still water leaking there.Keefer stated staff thinks there is another leak on the other end of the pipe that we previously repaired.Keefer stated the city was going to start the work on that line this morning but it was put off due to the weather.

Huddleston stated the last meeting’s minutes mention about the audio quality of the meetings and that the issue of streaming the meetings online is money.Williams stated the issue is not just the money but also the technology.Williams stated that everyone thinks this is something we should do, but we want to get what we have properly working first.Shaw stated we would need to have a vendor that can handle that separately.Huddleston asked if this is something we can keep on the back burner.Shaw stated he has that information and can forward it to the governing body.

Huddleston asked if there is a schedule for street sweeping and does it get amended for special events such as downtown activities.Keefer stated there is a formal schedule and it is posted on the city’s website.Keefer stated he would have to check with Cy Ricker about the schedule for downtown and special events.

Childers – Childers stated there was no mention of the recent homicide in the Gazette’s police blotter and asked what criteria are used for things that are omitted.Keefer stated he would have to defer that question to Brewer.Wallace stated we are legally supposed to provide that information to the newspaper if requested, but that there are certain things involving minors that cannot be provided.Wallace stated it is up to the media to pursue their right to that information.

Wallace - Wallace inquired about the list of property rented out by the city that was requested previously.Keefer stated that was provided in a council packet a few months ago.Wallace inquired about the quarterly report that is supposed to be provided by the Chamber.Keefer stated we haven’t gotten one in a while and that he would follow up on that.

Wallace stated that he has been asked about people texting during the meetings and as a result he checked in to that and it does violate the open meetings act.Childers stated the City of Topeka tackled this issue and that they determined texting is not part of the open meetings act.Williams stated it is open to interpretation.Wallace disagreed and stated it is State law.Williams stated the League of Kansas Municipalities has addressed this and that there are different determinations.S. Jones stated her personal opinion is that it is rude.

Reavis – Reavis asked if or when the water emergency will be over, because the watering months have passed and people are still being charged the water conservation fee.E. Jones stated that right now is the time from where the winter averages are being re-evaluated.Reavis stated we are past the summer months and should consider removing the fee.Keefer stated it is up to the council.Keefer stated that if we do not get rain in the spring the emergency will not go away.Wallace made a motion to rescind the emergency water conservation fee upon completion of the second billing cycle.Huddleston seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

S. Jones – S Jones stated that on the monthly financial report there are several funds where the expenses were well below the budget, for example the Administration fund is only at 17%.Keefer stated the budget includes a $700,000 reserve that we are required to budget as an expense so that we could use it if necessary, but we rarely use any of it.S. Jones also referred to the Special Alcohol and Special Parks Funds.Keefer stated that some funds are depending on grant applications.S. Jones asked if that information could somehow be included on next year’s reports.E. Jones stated she would do that.

Adjourn:At 9:25 p.m. Wallace made a motion to adjourn.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Minutes: Harper made a motion to approve the minutes from the November 21, 2011 meeting. Reavis seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Appropriations:

November (11A): S. Jones inquired about the payment to California State University for Education.Keefer stated it was a class for a wastewater treatment plant operator and included the course and books.Keefer stated the course assists with their training and obtaining their certification.S. Jones inquired about the payment to Solomon Corporation in the amount of $14,513.88.Keefer stated it was for several transformers.Reavis made a motion to approve Ordinance 11A in the amount of $952,823.87.Harper seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Visitors:

The Council recognized Linda Archer for 25 years of service with the City of Augusta and Louis Perez, Lyle Clark, Sharon Forrester, and Joanna Tillman for 10 years of service.

Old Business:

City Engineer RFQ:Council reviewed and discussed revised Request for Qualifications document to be used to solicit proposals from engineering firms to serve as City Engineer.Keefer stated the blanks in the document need to be filled in with dates.Keefer stated that a committee made up of him, S. Jones, Rawlings, and other staff will review the proposals that are received and will make a recommendation to the council.Malone asked if we move forward on this when the proposals will have to be back.Keefer stated January 6th.Reavis asked if that is enough time with the upcoming holidays.Keefer stated he will be sending them out this week which will give them almost a month to return their proposals.Reavis asked how it will be sent out.Keefer stated by mail.Keefer stated he has a list of firms and contact names and that the Wichita Business Journal just recently published a list of all the engineering firms in the area.Reavis made a motion to approve the Request for Qualifications document to be used to solicit proposals from engineering firms to serve as City Engineer and to set the deadline for the proposals as January 6, 2012.Malone seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

New Business:

Utility Abatements: Williams stated the council held a workshop prior to the council meeting to review and discuss the abatement applications.Williams stated the applicants were as follows:Augusta Arts Council (Theatre) $8,500, Augusta Arts Council (Gallery) $1,500, Augusta Chamber of Commerce $1,700, Augusta Community Caring Center $3,200, Augusta Historical Society $4,000, Augusta Public Library $22,000, Augusta Senior Center $3,500, Kansas Museum of Military History $4,000, and Mid-Kansas CAP $8,000.Reavis made a motion to approve the abatements as read and to continue to provide free service to the Augusta Girls Softball.Malone seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Developer’s Agreement:Reavis stated the wording in Section 1a. and 1b. of the agreement implies that all of the improvements will be done at Wal-Mart’s expense.Keefer stated that Section 1 states that “…except as otherwise specifically provided:” and section 1b. states “In order to improve and extend Lulu Street….at the City’s sole cost and expense…”.Reavis stated that some of the paragraphs say at Wal-Mart’s sole cost and expense and others do not.Keefer stated the first sentence under Section 1 covers that.Keefer stated that with the exception of extended Lulu at our request all other improvements are at the cost of Wal-Mart.Terry Haynes, representing Wal-Mart, stated that is correct.Haynes stated the project is moving along and is on schedule.Haynes stated they are still working on the time frame, but want to present the plans after the first of the year.Reavis asked if the bids will be open for local contractors.Haynes stated Wal-Mart has a group of general contractors they work with and that it is up to them but Wal-Mart encourages them to hire local sub-contractors.Childers made a motion to approve a Developer’s Agreement with Wal-Mart for a new store that is proposed for the SW corner of 7th and Lulu Streets.Malone seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Employee Health Insurance Program: Keefer stated that Human Resource Manager Angela Casper spent a lot of time working with several companies to come up with this plan.Keefer stated we are looking at using the cost savings to develop a wellness plan, but that it is a work in progress.Keefer stated the plan is to create a employee committee to help develop the wellness program and to gain support for the plan.Williams stated there had been some discussion previously about using a broker, but that there was not enough time this year but it could be considered in the future.Malone stated he was not aware of what employees paid for the plan and that he was shocked by the amount.Malone stated this is a very good benefit for the city’s employees.Keefer agreed.Keefer stated that other private businesses are able to pay their employees at a higher rate, and this insurance benefit helps offset that while ensuring that our employees have health coverage.Keefer stated that employees did not pay any premiums six to seven years ago.Keefer stated each year moving forward our employees will have to pay more and more out of pocket, but hopefully the wellness program will help keep those costs down.S. Jones asked if dental, vision, and life insurance is paid 100% by the city.Keefer stated it is and that he can provide that premium information at the next meeting.S. Jones stated the wellness program is a step in the right direction.Reavis stated several businesses have made hiring conditional on no tobacco use.Reavis asked if that is something we could do.Keefer stated that would be up to the governing body.Reavis made a motion to approve the City’s proposed 2012 Employee Health Insurance Program.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Wichita Model Railroad Club:Council considered approval of a new lease agreement with the Wichita Model Railroad Club for space in the old Fire Barn.Gorden MacPhail was present representing the Wichita Model Railroad Club.S. Jones asked MacPhail why they refer to themselves as the Wichita Model Railroad Club as opposed to the Augusta Model Railroad Club.S. Jones stated that troubles her.S. Jones stated she also finds the amount of the rent troubling and that this is a five year lease troubling.S. Jones asked MacPhail to explain what they do in their meetings and what community service they provide.MacPhail stated they can change their name to the Augusta Model Railroad Club and that there membership is open to the public.S. Jones asked what they have done in terms of providing community service.MacPhail stated they are open to the public on the first Saturday of every month.He stated they assist local Boy Scouts in obtaining a badge and they give tours to various groups.MacPhail stated they would like to improve their PR.S. Jones agreed they need to get the word out.MacPhail stated they have a website but couldn’t recall the site address.Williams asked them to provide their website information and asked if they have any signage.MacPhail stated there is signage on their door.

S. Jones asked if the rent basically just pays for utilities.Keefer stated for the most part it does but did not last year, but that they have taken measures to improve their usage including a programmable thermostat.S. Jones inquired about last year’s utilities costs.Keefer stated he thought it was around $1,400, most of which was incurred in three winter months.MacPhail stated they are working on insulating it better and that they have taken aggressive steps to reduce their usage.MacPhail stated they are reading their meter monthly to monitor their usage and programming the thermostat to keep usage down.

S. Jones stated she would propose extending the contract one year and challenging the Club to do a better job of getting out into the community.Harper agreed but stated she would recommend two years.Williams stated that with all the time and investment they have put into that she would rather see two years.MacPhail stated they were open to an annual review.Reavis asked if the original agreement was for five years and MacPhail answered yes.S. Jones stated this is city property and she would like to see that the city in general benefits from them being there.Malone stated he would be in favor of an annual contract that would allow us to make changes if necessary.

Reavis stated this space is city-owned property but that this is a club that needs long range planning.Reavis stated he wouldn’t want to see them to continue to improve that space and then lose their lease.Reavis stated a five year agreement would still work if there is an annual review.Mr. All stated there is a termination clause in the agreement.MacPhail stated a five year lease gives the club time to plan and upgrade the model railroad.He agreed that they should have an annual review of their utilities and if they are not meeting the requirements then the lease can be terminated.S. Jones stated her concern isn’t the five years but the use of city facilities.She stated that if we are going to continue with the lease there needs to be something done to make it a community asset.Williams stated they are occupying a space that would otherwise be vacant and if the choice is between using the space in a healthy and educational manner rather than keeping it vacant she would choose using the space.Rawlings stated he thinks the five year lease with an annual review is a good thing.

Reavis made a motion to approve the new lease agreement with the Wichita Model Railroad Club for space in the old Fire Barn.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried with S. Jones and Malone voting in opposition.MacPhail thanked the council and invited them to visit the Club after the meeting.

D & J Engineering: Council considered a request from D & J Engineering to allow for an encroachment in a dedicated alley right-of-way.Reavis asked if this unit was part of a building project.Keefer stated it is a new HVAC unit that was part of an upgrade to one of their buildings.Reavis asked if a permit was required.Keefer stated it was but that they didn’t get it until after the fact.Rawlings stated certain parts that are produced there require certain temperatures.Rawlings stated they add units to maintain temperatures for those parts.Reavis asked who is responsible for the trees.Keefer stated that D & J Engineering is responsible for maintaining them.Williams stated the trees may pre-date the buildings.Malone made a motion to approve a request from D & J Engineering to allow for an encroachment in a dedicated alley right-of-way.Reavis seconded the motion.Rawlings asked if there would be any cost for preparing these documents.Keefer stated there would not be.Motion carried without opposition.

Bid:Reavis made a motion to approve a bid from Mid-America Power Sports in the amount of $9,265.90 for a utility vehicle for Santa Fe Lake.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Ohio/Kelly Project:Rawlings made a motion to approve an agreement with Land Acquisitions, Inc. for real estate acquisition services related to the Ohio and Kelly intersection project.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Special Alcohol Grants:Harper made a motion to approve a special alcohol grant in the amount of $500 for Youth Leadership Butler and $2,500 for The Family Life Center Safehouse and to approve increasing the maximum amount for a Special Alcohol Grant to $5,000 beginning with the 2012 Grant Application Process.Rawlings seconded the motion.W. Jones asked if The Family Life Center Safehouse would come back and request an additional $2,500 would it be approved.Keefer stated it would be difficult to get the request in and approved at the next meeting, but that he would contact them.Motion carried without opposition.

Harper made a motion to approve allowing The Family Life Center Safehouse to apply for an additional Special Alcohol Grant in the amount of $2,500 for 2011.Rawlings seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.Keefer stated that the limitations on how those funds can be used only allow for certain organizations to be qualified to receive those funds.

Public Hearing: Reavis made a motion to schedule a public hearing for 7 PM on December 19, 2011 to consider amendments to the 2011 Budget.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Informational Memorandum:

Reavis – Reavis referenced the November 22nd Butler County Board of Commissioners minutes and Commissioner Woydziak’s comments that the County has given up authority to a governing body that is not elected by the constituents.Keefer stated we have established a growth area and we have the authority of planning oversight granted by state statute.Keefer stated the zoning is relegated to the County, but we have an inter-local agreement with the County allowing us to have zoning oversight of the growth area as well.Keefer stated he believes Woydziak may be referring to the Planning Commission who isn’t elected, but that the County has authority to disapprove their recommendations.Keefer stated we should have input and oversight on what happens in the area surrounding us where we may at some point grow into the area.Reavis asked if the County reviews the proposed changes first.Keefer stated yes and that the Planning Commission has to have a super majority to overturn the County’s position.Keefer stated he will follow up with Will Johnson at the County regarding these comments.

Final Comments:

Childers – Childers asked Keefer if he had been contacted about the issue related to the sewer backups.Keefer stated he has heard from one of the property owners.

Reavis – Reavis referenced the Wichita storm water situation and EPA requirements and asked if that is something we need to start looking at.Keefer stated that because of our location we do not come under those EPA requirements.Shaw stated that the requirements are two-part and tied to location and population.Shaw stated we are not part of the metro area and we have not met the 10,000 population threshold.Shaw stated we are years away from it happening, but it is an eventual thing that we will fall under the requirements.Reavis stated we need to keep in our minds that we will need to address this in the near future.Shaw stated that most of the requirements have to do with monitoring.

Reavis stated we broadcast our council meetings on our local channel and asked what it would take to stream the meetings live on our website.Shaw stated money.Williams stated the quality of the video on the cable channel is not good.E. Jones stated you could post the videos on YouTube and put those on the website, but they would not be live and not the greatest quality.Shaw stated that live streaming would require upgrades to some of our equipment due to space and speed requirements.Shaw stated there are a number of vendors out there and that he can research it further if that is something the governing body is interested in.Reavis stated it would be a way to have more community involvement.Childers stated we are getting ahead of ourselves.Childers stated he thinks we need to improve what we have now and work our way in to that.Shaw stated that you can go independent or have an outside group that can handle that for us.Williams stated we need to fix the volume problems.Keefer stated part of that problem is not using microphones.Williams stated that those at home wanting to weigh in on this issue need to contact their council members.

Executive Session:At 8:20 p.m. S. Jones made a motion to enter into executive session for 5 minutes to consult with the City Attorney on matters that would be deemed privileged in an attorney-client relationship.Harper seconded the motion.Rawlings and Malone abstained due to conflict of interest.

At 8:27 S. Jones made a motion to exit executive session with no action being taken.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Adjourn:At 8:28 p.m. W. Jones made a motion to adjourn.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Prayer:Pastor Terry Deaver, First Baptist Church, gave the invocation.

Minutes: Childers made a motion to approve the minutes from the November 7, 2011 meeting. Harper seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Appropriations:

November (11): S. Jones inquired about the $1,000 CTB grant paid to the Chamber.Keefer stated the Chamber applied and was approved for a CTB grant for their annual Homecoming event.Reavis made a motion to approve Ordinance 11 in the amount of $265,614.47.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

New Business:

Lion’s Club: Council considered a request from the Augusta Lions Club to construct an outdoor basketball court at Bill Reed Park.Leonard Whitehill, representing the Lions Club, addressed the council.Whitehill stated the Lions club has done many public service projects throughout the city over the years and that they are requesting the city’s support for another of those projects.Childers asked Reavis and Huddleston if there was any information from the Park Board meeting that wasn’t presented in the memo.Huddleston stated that all members agreed that this was a good project.Reavis stated the biggest concern that was voiced was the fact that an additional basketball court was not included in the master plan, but the board worked through those issues and was all in agreement that it is a good project.Rawlings made a motion to approve a request from the Augusta Lions Club to construct an outdoor basketball court at Bill Reed Park.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.Whitehill thanked Keefer, the Park Board, and the Council for working with the Lion’s Club on this project.Whitehill again thanked Keefer for working with them and for his help throughout this process.Whitehill also announced that the Lions Club will be selling Christmas trees at ACE Hardware this year.

Million Gallon Water Tank Project:Malone made a motion to approve an amendment to the Engineering Services Agreement with Aqua Tech Engineering for the Million Gallon Water Tank Project.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Work Session: Childers made a motion to schedule a work session for 6 p.m. on Monday, December 5, 2011 to review applications for the City’s annual Utility Credit/Abatement program for non-profit organizations.Harper seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Lulu Street:Council reviewed and discussed the City’s portion of the extension of Lulu Street to Thunder Road.Keefer stated the process with Wal-Mart has accelerated over the last couple of weeks.Keefer stated he would like to tie the balance of Lulu Street into Wal-Mart’s project to take advantage of the cost savings, but in order to do that in a timely manner we need to get that process started.Keefer recommended using the funds from the sale of property to Wal-Mart to do the project and if additional funds are needed those can be paid out of Capital Improvements.Keefer stated the City would have to acquire a portion of the old railroad right-of-way from the County in order to do this project.Reavis asked if the city could piggy-back our portion of the street onto Wal-Mart or their engineer’s portion of the project.Keefer stated he has inquired about that, but they wanted to keep their project separate and distinct from our portion of the project.Huddleston asked if the city would be putting in sidewalk approaches for the future trail along the railroad right-of-way.Keefer stated that is a good idea and he will inquire about that.S. Jones asked if Wal-Mart is having an engineer do their portion of the street couldn’t Martin Goedecke coordinate with them.Keefer stated he will and that the Wal-Mart engineer will pass any useful information on to Goedecke.S. Jones stated it seems like a convoluted way of doing it.Keefer agreed but stated when he asked the Project Manager/Engineer last spring or early summer he stated he wanted to keep it separate.S. Jones asked if we could ask again.Keefer stated he would.

Reavis made a motion to authorize staff to work with Goedecke Engineering on design engineering for extending Lulu Street to Thunder Road subject to Wal-Mart’s Project Manager/Engineer’s refusal to add it to their project.Childers seconded the motion.Rawlings asked if the issue should be tabled until there is an answer from Wal-Mart’s Project Manager/Engineer.Williams stated that would delay it another two weeks and with this motion we are covered either way.Motion carried without opposition.

Final Comments:

Reavis – Reavis asked the council if they feel there is a need for a policy for council member’s attendance at meetings and their ability to serve on the council.Childers asked Reavis if he has had someone approach him about this issue.Reavis stated he has.Childers stated he has been approached too.Reavis stated this isn’t directed to any one council member, but that there is an obligation with this position that we need to accept and fulfill our responsibilities.Williams asked Keefer if he is aware of any other communities that have this type of a policy.Keefer stated he is not.Huddleston stated we don’t have those types of requirements for our committees.Huddleston stated the citizens can take care of this by not re-electing the council members.Reavis stated that four years is a long time between elections.Childers asked City Attorney David All if he had any concerns with that type of a policy.Mr. All stated that he is not sure if the council has the authority to set that type of policy and asked that he be given until the next meeting to research the issue further.

Prayer:Pastor Steve Spencer, First United Methodist Church, gave the invocation.

Minutes: Holly stated that Rawlings was listed as absent from the meeting but that he had final comments, so he was at the meeting.Reavis stated there was a typo on page 5, that it should be “electronic” instead of “electron”.Reavis made a motion to approve the minutes from the October 17, 2011 meeting with corrections. Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Appropriations:

October (10A): Huddleston stated the payment to Animal Clinic is listed as $2,330.50 but the A/P Warrant Register shows $3,280 being paid out of the Animal Control fund.Keefer stated that includes payrolls and possibly a natural gas payment.Huddleston stated he thought those were paid out of the Safety Department funds.Keefer stated the Animal Control is a standalone budget under the General Fund.Rawlings asked if the payment to American Control is the final payment.Keefer stated we are still holding between $12,000 and $14,000 while they are fine tuning things.Huddleston made a motion to approve Ordinance 10A in the amount of $2,852,283.18.Malone seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Old Business:

Charter Ordinance: Rawlings made a motion to approve Charter Ordinance 15 allowing the City to refinance loans for the WWTP and Sewer System and issue debt up to $1.5 million for construction of the improvements to the same as well as provide for the notice/protest/potential election process for bonds in excess of $1.5 million.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

One-Million Gallon Storage Tank Project: Council considered authorizing the separation of the One-Million Gallon Storage Tank Project into two phases to include construction of the 12” bypass pipe as Phase I and the Storage Tank repairs as Phase II.Willis Wilson stated the roof of the tank will be removed and replaced with a dome and other repairs to the tank will be made at the same time.Wilson explained that with the tank out of service the pumps cannot get water out of the storage tank.Wilson stated that installing the new 12” bypass pipe will allow the water to bypass the storage tank and go directly into the pumps and out into the distribution system.Wilson stated that when the dam/spillway project is completed and the water levels are restored then we can move forward with repairing the tank.Williams inquired about the cost of the project.Wilson stated the bypass pipe will cost close to $60,000 and the total project will be approximately $450,000.Williams asked how long the bypass phase will take.Wilson stated 30 days.Williams asked if there would be a disruption to the system.Wilson stated there would be a minor disruption – maybe a day or two.S. Jones asked if the project is ready to go to bid or if the specs have already been developed.Wilson stated they are approximately 80% complete and that it will take about 30 more days to complete.Malone asked if the tank has to be drained for the bypass pipe to be installed.Wilson stated it only has to be lowered to the point where the pipe enters the tank.S. Jones asked if it will take 90-120 days to complete the project.Wilson stated that was a reasonable estimate.

Malone made a motion authorizing the separation of the One-Million Gallon Storage Tank Project into two phases to include construction of the 12” bypass pipe as Phase I and the Storage Tank repairs as Phase II.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.Keefer stated he will bring amendments to Aqua Tech’s contract to the next meeting.

Fish Salvage Operation:Council reviewed and discussed the Fish Salvage Operation.Keefer stated that some local fishermen are waiting until the lake is lowered some so the fish are denser.Keefer stated that with the blue/green algae warning lifted, it opens the lake up to more physical access.Keefer recommended a new press release saying the warning has been lifted and adding other options for removing the fish, such as seining.Keefer stated he is open to ideas and thoughts and that we need to get the word back out there.Huddleston stated he had a request to add jug fishing.Keefer stated that has been added.Huddleston inquired about snagging.Keefer stated his is not familiar with snagging, but that if it is the same as dragging it is not normally allowed.Keefer stated the State has said to remove the fish by means “within reason” so he will inquire about that.Huddleston asked when the lake is being lowered if the City will be using some of that water.Keefer stated we are and that we are going to try to coordinate that with the contractor.

New Business:

Dangerous Structure: Rawlings made a motion to approve Resolution 2011-21 scheduling a Public Hearing at 7 p.m. on Monday, December 19, 2011 to take input on a dangerous structure located behind 654 Santa Fe Street and whether it should be condemned and demolished.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.S. Jones asked if there are other structures in town that would also fall into this category.Keefer stated there are probably several.Keefer stated he has asked the city inspector to identify those so they can be addressed, but if the council is aware of a specific address to let him know.

Dam/Spillway Project:Council considered bids for the City Lake Spillway and Dam Repair project.Jay Anglemyer with MKEC stated all five bids were very close and under the engineer’s estimate, and that they are recommending the approval of the low bid from Utility Contractors, Inc. (UCI).Williams asked if a bid were approved tonight, when the pumping would start.Anglemyer said in 3 to 4 weeks, probably early December.Williams asked if we are still looking at May for the completion date.Anglemyer stated that is still the hope, but that it is dependent on the winter weather.

Jake McClure, President of Alan’s Excavating, addressed the governing body.McClure stated his business has been in Augusta since 1989 and that their bid was within 2% of the low bid.McClure stated he was present to answer any question from the council about their bid.McClure stated he saw options for reducing the cost of the project, such as value engineering whether we went with Alan’s Excavating or one of the other bids.Malone asked McClure if he saw any other ways he could lower the bid.McClure stated there are definitely some ways to save money on this project, such as using broken up concrete instead of shock rock.Huddleston stated the bids for the fish kill range from $10,000 to $78,000 and asked if UCI has some special expertise that allowed them to bid so low.McClure stated it was very difficult to determine the cost for the fish kill and that they didn’t want to take the risk and bid too low.S. Jones asked if Alan’s Excavating will be using sub-contractors. McClure stated they would for concrete work and seeding.

Williams stated there is about a $50,000 difference total in the UCI and Alan’s Excavating bids.Williams stated it is a difficult decision because they are someone from our community that is bidding on this project, but that we want to make sure the process is fair.McClure stated he understood that but he does have 13 employees that live in the area and pay taxes.S. Jones asked if McClure will have to hire anyone as a result of this project.McClure stated maybe one driver.Malone stated this would be a pretty small investment into our community by choosing the Alan’s Excavating bid.Keefer stated $50,000 is pretty significant.Malone stated we just loaned a company $30,000 and that several of those loans have not been repaid.Keefer stated that is s separate fund and is what the revolving loan fund is for.Keefer stated this is the council’s decision, but that the council should take the big picture into consideration and the integrity of the bid process.Keefer stated if they choose not to take the low bid we may not get good bids from companies in the future.Keefer stated McClure and Alan’s Excavating have been very good for this community and that we use them for a lot of the city’s projects.Keefer stated if the total bid was closer, maybe only $20,000 difference he would feel differently.

Malone asked if UCI has done work in Augusta before.Keefer stated they did work on the Water Plant and Wastewater Treatment Plant.Huddleston stated it is a tough decision to make.Huddleston stated Alan’s employees live in town, pay taxes, etc. and have done emergency work for us, but we do have to consider the bid process.Williams stated her concern is the perception of favoritism.Williams stated when bids are close it is easier to show local favoritism, but not when there is such a big difference in the bids.Williams thanked McClure for coming and stated she appreciated him for being here.

S. Jones inquired about the 10% contingency fee in the engineer’s estimate.Anglemyer explained that when they put the bid estimate together they don’t want to be the low bidder, so they put the contingency in to account for that and to give staff an idea of how much is needed for issuing debt.

Malone asked if UCI was included in the lawsuit on the WWTP.Keefer said no.Malone asked if UCI had change orders on that project.Keefer stated that he couldn’t recall, but with a nearly $9.5 million project there probably were.Wilson stated he doesn’t recall any significant ones with the Water Plant, but that was nearly 10 years ago.Malone stated that in this economy, there are people out there giving low bids to get the project knowing they can come back with change orders.

Reavis made a motion to approve the low bid from Utility Contractors, Inc. in the amount of $1,717,706.70 for the City Lake Spillway and Dam project and the alternate bid for fish removal in the amount of $10,000.Childers seconded the motion.Rawlings asked if there is a contingency item, will it be brought back to us.Keefer said yes.Anglemyer stated it is a pretty simple project and that they bidders had good information, but with the fish removal there is risk involved.S. Jones asked if there are any areas where a change order can be foreseen.Anglemyer stated he doesn’t foresee any change orders.Childers stated if there were any items that could be foreseen, any of the contractors would have to have a change order.Anglemyer agreed.Huddleston inquired about the regulations on fish removal.Anglemyer stated they cannot shock or dynamite, but that they usually use a chemical that keeps the fish from getting oxygen but that it doesn’t affect the water.

Motion carried with Malone and Rawlings voting in opposition.Williams told McClure that she respects the fact that he came to the meeting.McClure thanked the council and stated he appreciated the opportunity to bid.

Kelly/Ohio Intersection Project: Childers made a motion to approve a letter proposal from Goedecke Engineering to prepare legal descriptions and survey drawings for Temporary Construction Easements and permanent Right-of-Way for the Kelly and Ohio Intersection Project.Reavis seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

City Engineer:Council reviewed and discussed a draft “Request for Qualifications for Engineering Services” document for the purpose of designating a City Engineer.Williams congratulated Goedecke on his retirement and thanked him for all that he has done with the City.Keefer stated that he is asking for feedback and thoughts on the RFQ and asked the council to keep in mind the proximity of the firm to Augusta, such as the metropolitan Wichita area.Rawlings inquired about the insurance requirements and stated he has been getting requests for $2-$3 million in coverage and that he doesn’t know if that is a trend.Keefer stated he would look into that.S. Jones stated the RFQ states it’s for as needed tech services, but that she thought they would be put on retainer.Keefer stated basically that is what we would be doing.S. Jones stated if we are asking for a fee schedule in case we needed to draw on the expertise of another in the firm.Keefer stated yes, but that most firms have standard fee schedules that may be useful if comparing firms with similar qualifications.S. Jones asked what other cities used this RFQ.Keefer stated South Hutchinson, Russell, and a third city that he could not recall.S. Jones stated that under the heading of Scope, it is a run-on list of thing and suggested it would be easier to address the questions if they are broken down into categories.S. Jones stated she felt that about several areas within the RFQ.

Williams asked if it would be possible for the final RFQ to be put together by the group that will be reviewing them and preparing a recommendation.Williams recommended that S. Jones be in that group.Malone asked how and who to the RFQ will be delivered.Keefer stated we will send it out to engineers we have identified in this area, put it on the city’s website, and maybe some place other than the Eagle for cost reasons.Rawlings suggested we ask the three engineers in the room where they look to get work.Williams stated that with his expertise, Rawlings would be good to help with the RFQ and asked if he would have time to serve on this committee.Rawlings stated it would depend on the time commitment.Keefer stated there would be probably 3 or 4 meetings, mostly after the holidays.Huddleston made a motion to appoint S. Jones and Rawlings as the council’s designates on the RFQ committee.Harper seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Informational Memorandum:

Williams – Williams stated she was approached by someone that does landscaping and they had asked for additional days for access to the compost and limb facility.Williams stated she didn’t think we have enough traffic to warrant additional operating times.

S. Jones – Jones stated she was surprised that only two Airport Advisory Board members were present at the meeting and asked if that is typical of the attendance with those meetings.Shaw stated it is and that it was almost four months ago when there was a quorum that could vote to approve the minutes, etc.Huddleston asked if it is always the same people that are absent.Shaw said no and that there are four there on a regular basis, but usually only two of them at a given time.Shaw stated the meeting schedule has been changed to accommodate their schedules and that they call to remind them of meetings but the attendance hasn’t improved.S. Jones asked if it is time to look at making changes to the board.Williams stated we just made a change and that volunteerism is really becoming a problem.Shaw suggested we wait a couple of months because one of the members has been absent due to health issues and that we just replaced one of the members that were not actively attending the meetings.

Final Comments:

Huddleston – Huddleston stated in the last week he has noticed a lot of water at the south end of Ohio by the carwash.Keefer stated he thinks we have a leak there and that staff is looking at it to determine if it can be fixed without tearing up the street.Huddleston stated it should be taken care of before the cold weather and ice hits.Huddleston stated that on the southwest corner of the intersection there is a large chunk of concrete with a manhole cover sitting off kilter.

Harper – Harper asked if staff has heard back from the County Commissioners on the wind farm grant.Keefer stated they will fund our grant request of $10,000 to be used as our local match for the Heritage Trust Fund Grant application.

Malone – Malone asked if there has been any interest in the E bills.E. Jones stated that 12 accounts were signed up in the first two days and that there are about 35 accounts signed up now.E. Jones stated there is no charge for this service.

Williams – Williams stated there is an open house on December 8th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Drury Broadview hotel in Wichita for REAP and that all governing body members were invited to attend.Williams stated there will be a legislative meeting from 2:30 – 5:00 p.m.

Reavis – Reavis stated in the October month end reports there were some funds that were over 100% of their budget.E. Jones stated that she had entered some of the numbers incorrectly and those were corrected in the November report.Reavis stated the Santa Fe Lake caretaker had requested purchasing a gator and since he is under budget is this something that could be considered.Keefer stated he told the caretaker he would look at the fund balance at the end of October, but that it is up to the governing body.Keefer stated they didn’t need as much summer help this year, which is why he is so far under budget.Keefer stated it would be approximately a $10,000 expenditure.Reavis stated he is interested in making the purchase.

Childers – Childers stated the yellow striping on 7th looked good until the cones were taken down and now there is yellow paint all over.Keefer stated the County has been doing the striping on 7th and Walnut and that cars were not being patient and drove through the cones, smearing the paint.Keefer stated we are working on trying to clean it up as best we can.

S. Jones – Jones asked if there is any information on the soil sampling being done by Wal-Mart and at Ohio and Kelly.Keefer stated that a great deal of soil has been removed at the proposed Wal-Mart site.Keefer stated the movement has prompted Wal-Mart to start moving forward again on their project.Keefer stated he expects to see paperwork to start coming before the governing body in the near future to dot the “i’s” and cross the “t’s”.Goedecke stated he received an email this afternoon stating the Ohio/Kelly report has been completed, but that he hasn’t had an opportunity to read it due to email problems.Goedecke stated that when they did the drilling they went 25 feet in each direction and on the east side they found some more contamination.

Executive Session: At 8:17 p.m. Huddleston made a motion to enter into executive session for 15 minutes to consult with the City Attorney on matters that would be deemed privileged in an attorney-client relationship and for the purpose of real estate acquisition.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.Rawlings and Malone abstained due to a conflict of interest and left the meeting at this point.

At 8:33 p.m. Childers made a motion to exit executive session with no action being taken.Harper seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Reavis made a motion to appoint David Rapp to serve as the City’s counsel in connection with the levee land acquisition from McClure Brothers Farms, LLC on Butler County District Court; Case No. 11 CV 326.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Adjourn:At 8:34 p.m. Reavis made a motion to adjourn. Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Prayer:Pastor Terry Deaver, First Baptist Church, gave the invocation.

Minutes: Reavis made a motion to approve the minutes from the October 3, 2011 meeting. Childers seconded the motion.Huddleston stated that he must have missed something during the watering discussion last week because he thought he understood that the change only applied to new lawns where the homes were inhabited, not those that were unoccupied.Williams stated it wasn’t specified, but that some of the unoccupied homes have been sold.Keefer stated there have been five permits pulled and that all are for occupied homes.Childers stated he was concerned that there is confusion about it because he saw someone watering on Sunday.Williams stated she thought we made it very clear, but that we will have to continue to monitor that.Motion carried without opposition.

Appropriations:

October (10):S. Jones inquired about the payment to American Control.Keefer stated it was a partial payment towards the work being done on the Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) at the water plant.S. Jones inquired about the payment to Kriz Davis.Keefer stated it was for various materials and supplies for the Electric Distribution Department.S. Jones inquired about the payment to Randall Hladik.Keefer stated it was for the playground analysis.Keefer stated the Park Department is working on summarizing the report and will be presenting it to the Park Board and Council.S. Jones stated that a month end financial report had not yet been provided for September.E. Jones stated it will be provided at the next meeting.Wallace made a motion to approve Ordinance 10 in the amount of $446,828.79.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Visitors:

Mayor Williams presented the VFW with a proclamation and stated the VFW would like to make their community aware of their Buddy Poppies fundraiser.Williams stated the poppies are assembled by disable veterans and that their purpose is the desire to honor the dead by helping the living.The poppies will be distributed on November 5th and 6th at Wal-Mart and Dillon’s and the funds raised will be used locally for veterans and their families.

Troy Powers of McCune Heating & Cooling requested the blocking off of School Street in front of their shop for their open house on October 29th from 11 am to 4 pm.Powers stated it would be from the south end of the post office to the south end of the block.Williams asked if Powers had spoken to his neighbors.Powers stated he had not, but that he would.Keefer asked that Powers provide a written request including any services that would be needed of the City.Williams asked Powers to work with staff on that.

Airport Advisory Board:Reavis made a motion to approve the appointment of Mr. Rob Kuhns to the Airport Advisory Board to fill the unexpired term of Jeff Karst.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

New Business:

Levee Project:Dustin Avey with PiperJaffray provided a market update and stated that Country Club Bank had the lowest bid.Wallace made a motion to approve the bid from Country Club Bank for the lowest net interest cost of $9,279.17.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Reavis made a motion to approve Resolution 2011-20 authorizing the issuance and sale of Temporary Notes Series 2011-3 for the Levee Project.Malone seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

KDHE Revolving Loan: Council reviewed and discussed refinancing the City’s KDHE Revolving Loan for the Wastewater Treatment Plant.Dustin Avey, Financial Advisor with Piper Jaffray, addressed the council stated that between now and when we could do the re-financing the rates may change but that he projects we will be able to reduce the current rate of 3.04% to approximately 2.08% by refinancing.Avey stated we will not be changing the term, but we would have more flexibility by refinancing and that it could mature earlier.Avey stated the industry standard is a present value savings of 2% to 3%.Avey stated that because this is a KDHE Loan for a sewer project there is more of a process involved in refinancing it.Malone asked how refinancing would affect our debt limits.Avey stated that since it is a sewer project it would be exempt from our debt limits. Williams inquired about the financial commitment.Avey stated there would be no financial commitment unless the council chooses to refinance.

Kevin Cowan, Bond Counsel with Gilmore & Bell, stated that if the city chooses a Home Rule action in pre-paying these loans you have to make sure you are not violating any existing state statutes.Cowan stated you have to look at the process you had when you originally issued the bonds.Cowan stated we would either have to do it by charter ordinance or by holding an election, but due to time constraints he is recommending a charter ordinance.Cowan stated KDHE water loans are easier because they have that legislation in it but that the sewer loans do not have the same provisions.

Huddleston stated the charter ordinance states that we are exempt from K.S.A. 12-621, but other than the dollar limitations what else is in the statute that we don’t like.Cowan stated the notice and protest provision.Huddleston stated he is not comfortable removing the protest provision for future projects.Huddleston asked if it can be written into the ordinance to raise the dollar limits but leave in the protest provision.Wallace agreed that we should not take away the public’s right to protest.Keefer noted in the last situation with regard to the WWTP we were told that we had no choice and had to do the project by KDHE.Wallace stated he doesn’t want to put this one thing in there that affects the citizens’ rights in the future.

Malone inquired about the original loan amount.Keefer stated it was approximately $9.5 million and that we are 10 years into the loan.Wallace made a motion to table this item.Huddleston seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.Malone stated he would like the ordinance to include a protest period but have an exemption to paying off any existing loans.Huddleston added increasing the limits to $1.5 million.Cowan stated it is usually tough to beat the rate of a loan rather than issuing bonds.Huddleston stated if we are reaching capacity then shouldn’t we be getting more in fees than we were when it was first built.Keefer stated we are actually getting less in fees because people have learned to conserve in the winter to keep those fees down for the rest of the year.

Change Order: Council considered approval of a change order with Bryant and Bryant Construction for Street Sales Tax Maintenance Repair projects.S. Jones stated the cover letter said it is the amount of $93,637.33 but that the second page of the change order says $99,702.10.Keefer explained that this change order is only adding $21,262.50 and that the $93,637.33 is the amount of the change order approved with APAC at the last meeting ($72,374.83) and the amount being considered for Bryant and Bryant now ($21,262.50).Keefer stated the $99,702.10 is the new contract amount with this change order for Bryant and Bryant.Malone made a motion to approve the change order with Bryant and Bryant Construction in the amount of $21,262.50 for the Street Maintenance repairs.Huddleston seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.Keefer asked Goedecke when the project will start.Goedecke stated APAC started the patchwork today and Bryant and Bryant plan to start November 1st and are supposed to be finished December 15th.

Kelly/Ohio Project:Council considered approval of an agreement with Allied Laboratories to conduct field tests as part of the Kelly and Ohio Intersection Project.S. Jones asked if we received an analysis from Allied on the single sample they took.Goedecke stated we have not.Malone asked if there had been a filling station or something else there in the past.Keefer stated there used to be a grocery store where Stockton Memorial is but that no one is aware of a gas station or underground storage tank.Keefer stated it could be a heating oil tank, that several of those were located during the Streetscape project.Malone made a motion to approve an agreement with Allied Laboratories to conduct field tests as part of the Kelly and Ohio Intersection Project.Rawlings seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.S. Jones asked when the tests will begin.Goedecke stated the tests will be completed in 10 days and that the results should follow shortly.

Frisco Railroad Right-of-Way: Council reviewed and discussed the Survey for the old Frisco Railroad Right-of-Way.Goedecke stated all of the descriptions had to be rewritten because there was a difference between what the County and the City showed for descriptions.Goedecke stated that the biggest problem that was encountered had to do with an encroachment of a fence and a building on the south side of Thunder Road and adjacent to the refinery property.Goedecke stated he spoke to David Alfaro with the County and the plan is for the County to give the property with those structures on them to the adjacent property owners and the remaining right of way will be given to the city.Goedecke stated the Senior Citizen Center parking lot also encroaches onto the railroad right of way, as does a portion of the Augusta Saw and Mower fence.Goedecke stated the owner of Augusta Saw and Mower had a survey done before the fence was built, but that the monuments were not the same as those used during Goedecke’s and those monuments are no longer there.Huddleston asked if these two other encroachments will be handled the same as the two mentioned before.Goedecke stated they will not be handled by the County.Huddleston asked if the fence will have to be moved.Goedecke stated the City can make an agreement with the property owner that the fence can remain in its current position.Wallace asked if after a certain amount of time, doesn’t the property become his.Mr. All stated that adverse possession occurs at 15 years.Huddleston asked why the County would not release this encroachment like the others.Keefer stated we didn’t ask them to, but if the Council desires we could ask them to address this one as well.Huddleston stated if the County is willing to do that with some why not do it to all to put the issue at rest.S. Jones stated she thinks Huddleston’s request is the reasonable thing to do.Malone asked if the County isn’t willing to do this, couldn’t the City do the same thing.Keefer stated we could do a quit claim deed.

Huddleston asked if there are other encroachments.Goedecke stated there is a small encroachment for a fence off Walnut.Williams asked if it is necessary for us to do anything with these small encroachments.Mr. All stated the council just needs to decide how important it is to have them move the fence or deed it to them.Williams asked if the fence can’t just remain where it is without doing anything else.Mr. All stated he has been involved in several adverse possession cases and that the council may want to resolve it now.Wallace stated just let them get a quit claim deed now to avoid a legal dispute later.Wallace asked how many of these types of encroachments there are.Goedecke stated maybe five total.

Huddleston stated that when the senior center was built they were well aware that it wasn’t their property, where the others did not know they were encroaching on property that wasn’t theirs.Williams asked for a consensus on whether to include the senior center in the request to the County about the encroachments.The consensus was not to include the senior center in the request.

Reavis asked if the right of way thing is an all or nothing deal.Reavis stated the only benefit he sees for the city is the waterline and utility easements and that he thinks the trails are a “pie in the sky” type of a deal.Reavis asked if there is an advantage for the city to have property all the way down into the refinery.Keefer stated the original discussion included a little piece of right of way into the refinery, but we could ask the County to keep that piece.Williams stated she sees no advantage to the city to have that right of way.Reavis stated it would not have any benefit with the new levee.Rawlings asked if could be used for a future ball park.Keefer stated it would be too far west for that.Huddleston asked if we could sell this property in the future.Keefer stated we could sell it as is.Wallace stated he disagrees with Reavis and thinks it would be prudent for the city to keep that portion.Williams stated she believes we need to move forward with creating trails.Keefer stated he has heard people say they would like to have a path to the river.

Wallace made a motion directing staff to prepare a letter to the County requesting them to move forward with clearing the encroachment of a fence and a building on the south side of Thunder Road and adjacent to the refinery property and the Augusta Saw and Mower fence.Huddleston seconded the motion.Malone asked if the railroad wanted to reactivate the line if they could and Keefer said yes.Motion carried without opposition.

Final Comments:

Rawlings – Rawlings stated he had a phone call from a citizen who was upset that the city did not personally notify him that we were increasing his water rates and that the utility office told him they had gotten several calls and told him to call his council member.E. Jones stated she had spoken to that person and told him that a notice was delivered to his door and that it indicated the governing body was considering a conservation fee.E. Jones stated that she told the person that the fee was set by the governing body and if he was upset by the fee he could contact his council member.Rawlings stated he explained to the person that the fee is a penalty to reduce water usage.

Reavis – Reavis stated the County’s minutes said their health insurance costs are dropping and asked what we are doing wrong that ours keep going up.Keefer stated that the County has a very active wellness program that helps reduce costs, but that prior to this year they have had a couple of years with big increases.Reavis asked if we are going to discuss a wellness program.Keefer stated we have and will continue to do so.Keefer stated he doesn’t know the cost of the County’s wellness program.Williams stated there are a variety of brokers that could assist with this.

Reavis stated he would be in favor of making the transition to electronic agenda packets.Childers stated he has begged for that since he came on to the council.Malone asked if Keefer saw how the packets are delivered.Keefer stated you can use a thing called “drop box”, use a pdf, or many other options that are available.Keefer stated either way there would probably need to be some training.Keefer stated he is not sure of the cost involved, but we will be in the minority in the near future with paper packets.

S. Jones – Jones asked Shaw if the sanitation committee will be meeting again before the work session.Shaw stated they would not, but that they would be at the joint work session.Shaw stated the council instructed staff to provide more information on privatization.S. Jones asked if the committee had any input in the information included in this report.Shaw stated they did not.

Adjourn:At 8:30 p.m. Wallace made a motion to adjourn. Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Prayer:Pastor Terry Deaver, First Baptist Church, gave the invocation.

Minutes: Harper made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 6, 2011 meeting. Malone seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Appropriations:

September (9):S. Jones inquired about the payment to Augusta Progress Inc.Keefer explained that we are the administrator for a loan program and that we pass the payments on to the loan originator.Keefer stated the payment to Kansas Center of Entrepreneurship was for the same purpose.Huddleston made a motion to approve Ordinance 9 in the amount of $1,408,960.49. Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

New Business:

Levee Project:Rawlings made a motion to approve Ordinance 2029 amending Ordinance 2022 and authorizing the issuance of additional General Obligation Bonds for Flood Control Improvement.Malone seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Childers made a motion to approve Resolution 2011-19 authorizing the sale of General Obligation Temporary Notes, Series 2011-3, in the amount of $850,000.Harper seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

S. Jones made a motion to approve the transfer of $643,000 to the Corps Levee Escrow fund from the Electric Reserve Funds to be reimbursed with the issuance of the Series 2011-3 Temporary Notes.Rawlings seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.Keefer stated there would be additional funds that will need to be deposited into the account after October.Williams asked if we have been given a timeframe on when the construction will begin.Keefer stated it will be if/when the bids are let.Keefer stated they are estimating January, but they will have to award the bid first.S. Jones asked if they have identified the low bidder, but have not awarded the bid.Keefer stated they have not because the CORPS has not secured their additional funding, which has to be done before they will move forward.Keefer stated we also have to have our portion of funds fully secured before they will move forward, which is why the council just authorized the transfer of funds.Huddleston stated if they keep putting it off it will become more and more expensive.Keefer stated both the City and the CORP are committed to moving forward with this project.Reavis stated he would like to re-iterate to the citizens that the City has done everything we can do and that the hold-up is at the CORPS.Williams asked to be kept up to date on the timeline so the governing body members can pass that information on to the citizens.

Butler County Emergency Operations Plan: Jim Schmidt with Butler County Emergency Management was present to request that the Council authorize the Mayor to execute the signature page for the Butler County Emergency Operations Plan.Schmidt stated that Augusta has been a big player in this Emergency Management Plan.Schmidt explained that the difference between the City’s Plan and the County Plan is that the County is the agency with the authority to contact the State to request assistance.Schmidt gave a “hat’s off” to the governing body for all the mitigation work they have been doing with regard to the levee.Rawlings made a motion authorizing the Mayor to execute the signature page for the Butler County Emergency Operations Plan.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Spillway/Dam Project: Council considered approval of an Engineering Services Agreement with MKEC for construction inspection services for the Spillway and Dam Project.Jay Anglemyer with MKEC informed the governing body that the final plans have been submitted to the Division of Water Resources (DWR) and that MKEC is confident we will have plan approval by the end of next week.Anglemyer stated they believe they can have the bid opening the first part of November so the bids can be reviewed at the first council meeting in November.Anglemyer stated last week they took bids for work they were doing on Lake Afton and the bids came in very favorable and below the engineer’s estimate.

Anglemyer stated this is a standard contract for construction administration except that DWR has some specific requirements for the contract.Anglemyer stated the bidding services is covered by our current design engineering agreement with MKEC.Anglemyer stated an engineer will be on site any time there is construction going on, that MKEC will review and analyze all testing, verify payment requests, and make sure the contractor complies with all the necessary permit requirements.Anglemyer stated there will be period progress meetings as well.S. Jones inquired about whether we will be doing the Elective Paving Improvements.Anglemyer stated it is part of the bid at this time and that the only bid alternate at this time is the removal of the fish.

S. Jones inquired about MKEC reviewing the contractor’s choice for quality control.Anglemyer stated they will make sure they use someone reputable, hopefully someone MKEC has worked with before, and hopefully someone local.S. Jones inquired about the specifications in testing.Anglemyer stated they will use ASTM specifications.S. Jones inquired about who would be at the periodic progress meetings.Anglemyer stated they will include the prime contractor, significant sub-contractors, MKEC’s field persons, MKEC’s engineer, and City staff.S. Jones asked who the project manager will be.Keefer stated it would probably be him.

Huddleston stated the payment provision on page five says a total not to exceed amount of $229,014.17 and that it is followed by a fixed fee.Anglemyer stated the total, including the fixed fee, will not exceed $229,014.17.Huddleston asked if the reimbursable expenses included in item B are included in that $229,014.17 amount and Anglemyer stated they are.Childers made a motion to approve an Engineering Services Agreement with MKEC for construction inspection services for the Spillway and Dam Project.Reavis seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plans:Council considered approval of a proposal from Aqua Tech Engineers to update the City of Augusta’s Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plans and provide training for personnel.Keefer stated the first set of plans was made in 2006 and that this is that plan’s first update.S. Jones asked who completed the first plans.Keefer stated Aqua Tech Engineering.Huddleston asked what is being updated.Keefer stated the EPA requires an update every five years to review and address changes, etc.Shaw stated that new tanks and equipment have been added throughout the City and that the EPA requires the plan to be updated periodically and that certain records are maintained.S. Jones made a motion to approve the proposal from Aqua Tech Engineers to update the City of Augusta’s Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plans and provide training for personnel.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Street Sales Tax Program: Council considered approval of a list of street patches and repairs as part of the 2011 Street Sales Tax Program.Andrew Hart with Goedecke Engineering was present and explained that most of the concrete work is being done at Ohio and Main and it is a result of old concrete that is moving.Shaw presented pictures of what the current state of several of the proposed locations for work to be done.Reavis stated that at the locations he drove around this afternoon, it appeared that the underlying factor is poor drainage.Hart stated the intent is to raise the street back up to the curb line.Keefer stated if it is restored to the curb line it will drain better.Reavis asked if the gutter replacement on Ranchwood includes every driveway.Hart stated that not all the driveways would be replaced.Keefer stated the curb and gutter is mostly okay and that the problems seems to be more that it is breaking up at the driveways and included several driveways on adjacent streets.

Huddleston stated the area at Ohio and Main has failed so many times and asked there is a bigger problem there.Hart stated the problem is that the concrete is moving and that the majority of traffic southbound on Ohio is turning there.Huddleston stated he thought it was all concrete at 309 Main.Hart stated the concrete joint will be replaced with an asphalt joint.Huddleston stated there are joint problems all along Main.Keefer agreed and stated it is going to take some time to repair all of those joints.Keefer stated we will do this one to see if it solves the problem before moving forward.Childers made a motion to approve the proposed list of street patches and repairs as part of the 2011 Street Sales Tax Program.Malone seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Informational Memorandum:

Malone – Malone referenced item #2 on the informational memorandum and stated he would like to ask the sanitation committee to get together again and bring the council more information.Malone stated he did not feel that the council got all of the information they could have provided.Williams asked for an example.Malone stated that they talked a lot about what Derby did, but that Valley Center just recently changed their service to a franchise and they are now making money off the service.Malone stated that Shaw said they took out the replacement of tires out of the budget, but that automated trucks might require more maintenance.Malone stated that the council was told that the cost of the sanitation department goes up some years and down, but that it stays pretty flat.Malone stated he reviewed the financials and it shows that we are actually $45,000 down over the last five years.Malone stated that the committee didn’t contact any private haulers.

Childers stated he has spoken to several people and there is no general consensus from our citizens on what they want.Childers stated he would support Malone and thinks that a work session would be beneficial.S. Jones stated that only reviewing what Derby has done is not due diligence, and that we should get some bids from private haulers.Malone stated he would like a list of specifications put out to bid so we can compare apples to apples.Huddleston stated this is a big issue to our town and that the committee lacked information on what a private hauler can do for us.Huddleston stated that if we go to an automated system we will have higher maintenance costs.Huddleston stated the council was told that private haulers would not work with our elderly citizens with putting their dumpsters at the curb, working with special events, picking up large items, etc. but that he checked and they will do those things.

Reavis stated that as a member of the committee he can say that we did discuss privatization, but that it was our consensus early on as a committee that we felt privatization was not the best option or direction that needed to be explored so we didn’t go down that road.Reavis stated that he has no problem getting back together with the committee and looking into it.Shaw stated that the reason Derby was looked at as an example is because they documented the entire process they went through and that they were a recent example.Shaw stated that it looking at a city that switched from a municipal trash service to a franchised service would be a better example.

Malone stated that he thinks we should have at least taken bids.Shaw stated he doesn’t think everyone agrees on the specifications yet, so what would they be bidding on.Williams stated that instead of a bid, it might be better to get some regional information on what people are paying.Shaw stated he has those numbers, but the services provided are different from one community to another.Keefer stated the committee was not authorized nor directed to obtain bids, that has to be done by the governing body.Keefer stated that Hutchinson approached their trash service as an asset to the community and they sold that service to a private hauler.Keefer stated we need to look at what our system is worth.

Huddleston stated we should do some fact finding rather than obtaining bids, but that he would like more information.Keefer stated there is no problem re-convening the committee, but that we need clear direction.Williams stated the consensus is that we want more facts.Keefer stated staff will visit with the local haulers to see what they are willing to tell us short of taking bids.Williams stated that thanks to the newspaper the citizens have been calling and that she was stopped by someone at the grocery store who said the sanitation guys are the hardest working employees of the city.

Shaw asked if we should schedule a joint work session with the council and the committee.Williams stated it should start with the committee.Reavis stated the council should have their work session first so they can have clear direction to give to the committee on what they should be looking at.Williams asked if it would be better for staff to develop some criteria for the committee first.Reavis stated he thinks the committee needs more information from the council.Childers stated Reavis made a good point, but that we are having a mini work session now.Keefer stated he will schedule a work session for the council first.Reavis stated that he doesn’t know that the committee needs to be there.Keefer stated that he thinks they will want to be there.

S. Jones – S. Jones inquired about the individual evaluation of the park equipment.Keefer stated the guy was working on it and that he hasn’t seen the report yet.Keefer stated when he receives the report he will present it to the Park Board and then the governing body.

Final Comments:

Huddleston – Huddleston stated he has gotten conflicting information about vendors selling on 7th Street.E. Jones stated that if they are selling locally grown produce they are not required to get a business license.Huddleston stated that Colorado peaches are not locally grown.Huddleston stated he has been told that if they are selling on private property they do not need a license.E. Jones stated that is incorrect.E. Jones stated there has been some concerns about the items being sold at the Farmer’s Market and that some of those vendors should also have a business license.Keefer stated he has suggested Downtown Augusta Inc. obtain a business license for the Farmer’s Market to ensure they are all covered.

S. Jones – S. Jones thanked E. Jones and her staff for the engineering cost information that was provided.S. Jones stated she would like to have a discussion in the future about having someone officially appointed to be the city engineer.Keefer stated that decision would be up to the governing body.Keefer stated that some cities have a contract that specifies day to day engineering and others have a broader contract, but that it would depend on how the governing body wants to approach it.S. Jones stated there are several engineering firms that contract with municipalities to be their city engineer.Keefer stated in many ways that is what Goedecke is doing now, but without an official agreement.Keefer stated we could come up with a list of things the governing body would want to be included in the agreement and ask engineering firms to provide a cost proposal.Childers stated he sees no reason not to explore this further and Malone agreed.

Rawlings asked if there is a specific problem with the way things are going.Childers stated that if we can find a cost savings it would behoove us to look at it.Keefer stated it may not necessarily be a cost savings.Huddleston citied issues with the Streetscape concrete downtown as a specific concern with Goedecke.Rawlings stated that happens all the time and that they always pass those costs on to the city.Rawlings stated we had a problem with MKEC on the water tower project and that he is surprised we continue to work with them.Keefer stated there was a problem with that project, but that it was more with the contractor.

The majority of the governing body would entertain staff to get ideas of what other cities have done with regard to a city engineer and the costs associated with it.Keefer stated before he solicits bids he will need ideas of what the governing body wants in the agreement with regard to general or all-inclusive engineering.Childers suggested we look at what other cities have done.Williams stated it is nice to have smaller engineering firms to work with such as Goedecke and Aqua Tech and that she doesn’t know that going to a larger firm will be better for us.Williams reminded the governing body that they always talk about going local.Keefer stated staff will look into this and put something together for the Council to look at.

Minutes: Reavis made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 19, 2011 meeting. Huddleston seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Appropriations:

September (9A):Huddleston stated the warrant register summary did not have amounts listed.E. Jones stated there was a virus on the computer that prints this report and when the program was reloaded onto the computer this report must not have been correct.Huddleston asked that a corrected summary be provided.Malone made a motion to approve Ordinance 9A in the amount of $342,146.50. Harper seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Visitors:

Mayor Williams welcomed Boy Scout Troop 212 to the council meeting and commended them for their recent collection of donations for the Augusta Caring Center.

Old Business:

Sanitation:Reavis made a motion to schedule a work session for 7 p.m. on Monday, October 24th to review and discuss recommendations from the Sanitation Committee and provide further direction for gathering additional information.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried with Huddleston opposing.Huddleston stated he was opposed because his impression was that we would turn it over to the committee to do an analysis of all available options and to bring a proposal back to the governing body.Reavis stated the committee did an analysis and provided their recommendation at the last meeting and that Huddleston didn’t like it.Reavis stated the committee needs to know what it did wrong.Huddleston stated the committee immediately dismissed privatization so it did not look into the benefits of privatization versus doing it in house.Huddleston stated he thinks the committee needs to adequately research privatization and that the governing body needs more information to make a decision.

Engineering Services:Reavis made a motion to approve and engineering services agreement with Aqua Tech Engineering for the Water Supply Study.Malone seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Malone made a motion to approve an engineering services agreement for the SPCC Plans Update and related training.Huddleston seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Change Order:Reavis stated he didn’t understand what this change order is requesting, because the amount approved at the last meeting was over $116,000.Keefer stated there will be another change order in the future.Martin Goedecke stated this is for asphalt, patching, and crack sealing and that this amount will be paid to the contractor.Goedecke stated the change order that will come later will be for Bryant & Bryant construction for the concrete.Keefer stated the amount being considered tonight is in addition to what was included in APAC’s original contract for the asphalt repair portion of the annual street sales tax project.Reavis stated the change order included sidewalk repair and asked if you can use street sales tax funds for sidewalk repairs.Keefer stated we can when it is part of the street repair project.Goedecke stated this is at the southeast corner of Main and Ohio.Malone made a motion to approve a change order with APAC, Inc. in the amount of $72,374.83 for the Street Sales Tax Maintenance/Repair project. Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

New Business:

Spillway/Dam Project:Reavis made a motion to approve the Assistance Agreement with US Environmental Protection Agency for the $180,000 grant for the City Lake Spillway and Dam Project.Harper seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Levee Project: Childers made a motion authorizing the Mayor to execute a Consent Agreement with Butler County for Kelly Avenue allowing for a stop log structure to be constructed in their road Right of Way for the Levee Project.Harper seconded the motion.Huddleston stated exhibit B refers to the road as Dike Road and stated it is officially SW Hunter Road.Huddleston asked if that will make a difference on the drawing.Keefer stated the County Map refers to this section of the road as Dike Road.Motion carried without opposition.

Reavis made a motion authorizing the Mayor to execute a Consent Agreement with Butler County for Thunder Road allowing for the placement of the levee in their road Right of Way for the Levee Project.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Spillway/Dam Project – Fish Salvage: Council reviewed and discussed the Fish Salvage Process as part of the City’s Spillway and Dam Project.Williams stated a suggestion would be to let all state license holders’ fish for free beginning on October 15th for 30 days.Williams stated either we allow them to help us, or we do it ourselves at our expense.Malone suggested opening up the use of boats to all Butler County residents.Keefer stated he would only ask that they register their boats so we know what is on the lake.There was a general consensus from the governing body to waive fees for 30 days.

Williams stated we would need to publicize the blue/green algae situation.Keefer stated the State has okayed us waiving the use of nets, but not trot lines.Huddleston stated the current code states the hours as all reasonable times and asked if that needs to be amended.Keefer stated he thinks there is some signage about the permitted hours of fishing out there now.Williams stated these changes would only be for 30 days.Keefer agreed and stated we would have to evaluate it in 30 days and see where we are.Huddleston stated he would feel better only waiving the fees for Augustans and residents of Butler County.Williams stated she would feel better waiving it across the board because they would be helping us and it would be easier to manage than only waiving it for certain people.Keefer stated staff will send a letter to all of those people who have an annual city fishing license.

Reavis made a motion waiving fishing requirements and costs starting on October 15th for everyone, allowing the use of nets, and limiting the use of boats to Butler County residents and requiring them to be registered.Malone seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Bids:Reavis made a motion to approve the bid from MITE Electric in the amount of $4,500 for the purchase of three electric breakers with buckets for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvement Project.Childers seconded the motion.Huddleston asked why this was not part of the original bid.Willis Wilson stated that the buckets and breakers have to be made by the same manufacturer of the existing Motor Control Center in order to be compatible.Motion carried without opposition.

Williams – Williams stated the funding from the Corps of Engineers has been secured and we will be moving forward with the Levee Project.Keefer stated he was informed they official let the project today and that their next move is to analyze the bid to see if there is a way to lower the costs.

Williams stated she has received emails in regard to watering, specifically for people re-seeding their lawns.Williams stated her concern is that we still need an emergency water supply and we have to consider the demand for water.Williams stated when the project is completed in the spring it could take months or years before the lake is replenished.Williams stated there are 12 to 14 new home builds and she would be open considering adjusting the restrictions to allow the current 14 hours of allowed watering to be spread out over 7 days instead of 2 for brand new lawns.Huddleston stated people need to deep water their trees and shrubs to keep from losing them.Huddleston stated he would rather save those than new yards.Keefer stated that when you put a new yard in you have to keep it wet.Keefer stated he understands the stress on trees and plants this summer, but that he feels some of those can be done within the current 14 hours of watering allowed but that he doesn’t think the system could handle allowing both.Williams stated she would like to allow the 14 hours to be spread out to 2 hours per day for new lawns, but that the property owners would be required to get a permit from the inspection department.Huddleston inquired about a 10-15 day moratorium on the restrictions.Keefer stated that would not be enough time to re-seed or put in a new lawn.Williams stated another concern is the amount of demand that would put on the system.Huddleston asked Williams if she is proposing the change for new lawns and re-seeding and Williams stated she would not recommend changing the restrictions for re-seeding.Huddleston asked if new lawns will have grass by winter.Malone stated those yards would be dried up next spring just like all our other lawns.Williams stated they will have to make that decision at their own risk, and that our safety and need for water will take priority.Reavis asked Williams if she meant new yards for new construction only.Williams agreed.Reavis stated they will still be limited to the 14 hours of watering and Williams agreed.

Reavis stated he thinks everyone in town has made personal sacrifices because of inadequate water supply and that he would agree that if they don’t have a yard he would rather see them plant it now rather than wait until next spring.Williams stated grass grows better in the fall.Malone asked how the winter monthly average would be calculated on these new builds for the purpose of the water conservation fee.E Jones stated it would be set at 6,000 gallons as it is with all new customers that have not previously had usage.

Reavis stated he wanted to make sure everyone knows we are not wasting the water that will be drained out of the lake, that we will not be able to get that water into the system.Williams stated the Division of Water Resources (DWR) owns the water and that water will be put into the rivers.Williams stated we will continue to use it as a back-up water supply as long as it is available.Reavis made a motion to allow new construction to put in new yards and for the 14 hours of watering per week allowed under the water restrictions to be spread out over the 7 days.Reavis stated he would leave how to administer that up to staff.S. Jones asked how it will be monitored.Williams stated it will be mostly on their honor.E. Jones stated we would be able to tell by their usage if they are exceeded the allowed allotment of hours.Reavis asked that staff provide information from the County Extension office on new yards.Huddleston seconded the motion.Motion carried with Childers opposing.Childers stated he has concerns about the “on your honor” system and is concerned that it is more confusing and could show favoritism.Childers stated he is concerned about picking and choosing who can do this.

Keefer stated as a whole, the community has complied with the restrictions and the citizens should be commended for their efforts.Keefer stated we will try to us as much of the water in the lake we can before we start pumping it out when the quality of the water at that level is not very good.Keefer stated he is concerned about the El Dorado water line, so the hours of day when watering is allowed is an issue for regulating demand.Keefer stated if the water towers go dry we would have to have a boil water issue.

Reavis asked about the status of the repairs of the million gallon storage tank and asked if it will be out of commission during this time.Willis Wilson stated it will be out of service during the time of the spillway/dam repairs.Reavis inquired about the time frame.Wilson stated it will be a winter/spring project.Williams inquired about the risk to the tank if the project is put off for a year.Wilson stated a year would not cause the tank to fail.Williams stated she would be more comfortable with waiting to complete the tank project.Huddleston stated he thinks what the council is concerned about is that if the lake is empty it is not good to have the storage tank empty too.Wilson stated he does not see a connection between the lake water supply and the storage tank repairs.Malone inquired about our storage capacity.Keefer stated there is 2.5 million gallons of storage capacity between the storage tank and the three water towers.Wilson stated the tank would be approximately a half of a day additional usage.Williams asked if staff could review this project in terms of timing.Reavis inquired about Mulvane’s storage.Keefer stated they have a reservoir and a water tower.Williams stated it would be good to know their storage capacity.Keefer stated these are all good points and something that should be considered.Williams stated she would like it reviewed, because draining the lake is a risk and right now might not be the best time for this project.Williams stated since we are funding this project it could be delayed without risk to the funding.Williams requested that staff bring back a recommendation to the council on the million gallon storage tank project.

Final Comments:

Huddleston – Huddleston inquired about the obstruction in the inlet tower and asked if we couldn’t do anything about that.Keefer stated we had flow issues a month ago and could not find an obstruction in the inlet tower, but found a blockage in the pumps themselves.Keefer stated there would be some clearing of debris in the inlet tower during the construction of the dam/spillway.

Harper – Harper asked if we can make any provisions for the new trees that were planted at the cemetery, that some are turning brown.Keefer stated that Brian Alfaro is working on those and that he would have to check with him to see what specifically is being done to address them.Harper stated that Channel 7 has been very static-y.Williams stated the volume has been very low.Keefer stated he will check it out.Reavis asked if it is a Cox problem and whether we have any control over Cox.Keefer stated we don’t.

Williams – Williams thank everyone who participated in the Homecoming Festival and the Yesteryear Fair.

Reavis – Reavis thanked Josh Shaw and the airport staff for a wonderful Fly-In.Reavis stated he appreciated their hard work and that there was very good attendance at the event.

S. Jones – Jones stated several weeks ago there was something in the Informational Memorandum about updating the employee handbook.Keefer stated there will be a work session for that before the end of the year.

Prayer:Pastor Terry Deaver, First Baptist Church, gave the invocation.

Minutes: Reavis made a motion to approve the minutes from the August 15, 2011 meeting.Malone seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Appropriations:

August (8A):S. Jones inquired about the payment to Bryant & Bryant Construction.Keefer stated it was for the brick street repair on Euclid.S. Jones inquired about the payment to Goedecke Engineering.Keefer stated it was for 80% of the cost of the survey of the railroad right of way.S. Jones stated the contract does not call for a progress payment.Keefer stated Goedecke feels the work is complete but that there are a few items Keefer wants cleared up before full payment is made.S. Jones asked when Goedecke will be presenting his report to the governing body.Keefer stated October.Huddleston stated if the money were held it would make Goedecke more anxious to get those issues taken care of.Rawlings stated that would be unprofessional and that he should get paid for what he has done.S. Jones inquired about the issues that need to be resolved.Keefer stated there are a couple of properties west of town where the railroad right of way runs along the old refinery property where some things overlap with the County records and the surveys.Keefer stated he wants those issues corrected and resolved before he considers it complete.Huddleston asked how long Goedecke has known about these issues.Keefer stated it has been three weeks, but that Goedecke has been working on resolving the issues.Reavis made a motion to approve Ordinance 8A in the amount of $1,982,121.25. Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried with S. Jones and Huddleston voting in opposition.

August (8B):Huddleston asked if this included two months of billings for the Animal Clinic.Keefer stated it was for one regular monthly bill for around $2,700 and the additional cost was for three pit bulls that were ordered held per municipal court.Huddleston asked if those were placed there by the court, how we are reimbursed.Mr. All stated the owners are notified by the court that the animals will be released if the pay the bill for their care, if they don’t pick them up it may be weeks before the judge has the animal euthanized.Huddleston asked why they are given more than three days before they are euthanized if they are placed there by the court.Mr. All stated if they have a prohibited animal they can pick them up but the animal may have to be removed from town and there may be charges for tags, vaccinations, etc.Mr. All stated that often those types of animals are abandoned at the clinic.Huddleston asked if the court will order them to pay.Mr. All said yes.Keefer stated those reimbursements would show up in the court’s fines and fees revenue.Reavis made a motion to approve Ordinance 8B in the amount of $325,217.84.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Visitors:

Eric Christinat, Executive Director of Downtown Augusta, Inc., requested the closure of the 400 and 500 block of State Street on the morning of October 29th for the 2011 Chili Cook Off.Malone made a motion to approve the closure of the 400 and 500 block of State Street on the morning of October 29th for the 2011 Chili Cook Off.Huddleston seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Jocelyn Mitchell, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, requested the closure of the City lake Road on Saturday morning, October 1st for their annual Loop the Lake Run as part of the Augusta Homecoming Fest.Malone made a motion to approve the closure of the City lake Road on Saturday morning, October 1st for their annual Loop the Lake Run as part of the Augusta Homecoming Fest.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Old Business:

FAA Grant Offer:Council considered acceptance of the FAA Grant Offer for the Parallel Taxiway Project at the Augusta Municipal Airport.S. Jones asked who is responsible for creating the documents for the construction management program.Lloyd Partin stated the contracted engineering firm will be handling the construction management program and that Partin will be working closely with them.S. Jones stated she has experience working with the FAA and would like to see that document.Reavis inquired about the area North of Highway 54 being in the Runway Protection Zone and asked how the limitations/actions of this will affect the property owner’s offsite of the Airport.Partin stated this project will not impact the Runway Protection Zones.Reavis asked if it would tie our hands in the future.Partin stated these grant assurances are for twenty years and that the FAA requires the City to do our part to protect that zone from incompatible improvements.Shaw stated these are the same assurances that we currently are under.Reavis asked how we would protect the City or that land to the North, and how can we tell the property owner if he ever sells that property that they cannot do certain things with the property.Shaw stated we already have provisions that have been in place for some time to address this, and that we have began having discussions with the property owner as well.Reavis made a motion to accept the FAA Grant Offer for the Parallel Taxiway Project at the Augusta Municipal Airport.Malone seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

New Business:

2010 Audit:Aaron Iverson, Auditor with Edward B Stephenson & Co. presented the 2010 audited financials to the governing body.Iverson verified that all members of the governing body received the SAS 114 letter that he sent them.Iverson reiterated that this particular letter was not provided to management and that they were not privy to the information contained in it, so if the governing body members chose to they could share the letter with management.Iverson stated that page 53 of the audit is incorrect and that if the governing body leaves their copies of the audit with E. Jones he will send her the replacement pages and she can return to them a correct copy of the audit.Iverson briefly reviewed the audit document with the governing body.Huddleston stated he could not reconcile the budget amount on page 6 for the Airport with the budget he has for the Airport.E. Jones stated she would provide a reconciliation to show what line items were combined to come up with those figures.Iverson stated the auditor’s main concern is to make sure it balances.

Huddleston referenced the management letter and stated that items 1b-1d state the controls in place need to be monitored.Iverson stated those are areas handled outside normal policies and procedures and are not under the direct control of the people we are working with.Iverson stated it is handled by part-time or seasonal employees and that there may be multiple people handling the funds in that area.Iverson stated they didn’t find any issues or areas of concern; he just wanted to identify the importance of continuing to monitor those areas.Jones stated controls have been put in place, such as daily deposits with a breakdown of revenues for the pool and numbered receipts at Santa Fe Lake.Reavis made a motion to accept the 2010 Audit.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Fixed Asset Waiver: Rawlings made a motion to approve Resolution 2011-17 waiving the requirements of K.S.A. 75-1120a(a) in regards to fixed asset accounting for 2011.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Kansas Power Pool: Council considered approval of a Resolution authorizing the execution of a Power Purchase Agreement with the Kansas Power Pool.Colin Whitley, Executive Director of the KPP, stated there are regional issues facing the KPP such as compliance issues with the EPA and an opportunity to purchase a 40MW share of the Dogwood Power Plant.Whitely explained that if a double majority of their customers pass this resolution, they can purchase the Dogwood Plant and comply with the EPA issues as a pool which would make it more cost effective.Whitely stated the debt would be issued to KPP, not the city.Williams asked how much debt would be involved.Whitely stated it would be about $30 million in debt for KPP.

Huddleston asked if we already own catalytic converters.Keefer stated they have been budgeted for a couple of years, but that we have held off on purchasing them because KPP has been looking for ways to spread that cost out to all those who purchase power from them.Huddleston asked if all members have to agree to this.Whitely stated it would require a double majority, which would be 17.Huddleston asked what would happen if a member doesn’t agree to pass the resolution.Whitely stated they would not get a benefit of this.Whitely stated this is non-binding and just a straw poll to see if they can meet critical mass.

Williams stated it would be increasing our commitment from 10 years to 20 years and stated that is a long contract.Bill Webster stated we have 8 ½ years left on our current contract.Williams asked Webster his position or recommendation on this issue.Webster stated that KPP has always been the cheapest source of power and that he would recommend approval of this resolution.

Huddleston asked where in the contract is says that if we agree our rates will be better.Keefer stated it is in the “whereas” part of the agreement.Huddleston asked how we will know for sure that our rates will be lower.Whitely stated that cities willing to take the risk will directly benefit from it.Williams asked if we don’t do this, will we be required to add the catalytic converter and if that would cost us more in the long run.Webster stated the four catalytic converters for the north plant will cost $500,000.Webster stated we will still be responsible for the south plant, but that the south plant is for emergencies only.Keefer stated by KPP issuing the debt we will not be taking any money out of our reserves and it could be a cost savings to us as the cost will be spread out even to those cities that do not have generation.

Malone asked how much we have generated year to date.Webster stated we generated one day for Westar, one day for KPP, and several days in July.Childers inquired about the drawbacks of this.Keefer stated that KPP has fulfilled our expectations and that this is an opportunity for us.Keefer stated that he doesn’t know of any options at this time, that is better than buying into the Dogwood Plant.

Huddleston asked how KPP will bill those that participate separately from those that do not.Whitely stated that all bills are cost based on their commitment and it will be easily separated.Rawlings made a motion to approve Resolution 2011-18 authorizing the execution of a Power Purchase Agreement with the Kansas Power Pool.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Engineering:Willis Wilson with Aqua Tech stated that as a result of the drought and watering restrictions, he has been looking at several options available to the City with regard to its water supply.Malone asked if the fee is based on hourly rates.Wilson stated in all honestly it will hit the maximum.Malone made a motion to approve the proposal from Aqua Tech Engineering to analyze and study various long-term water options and prepare a comprehensive report and recommendations to the City of Augusta for an amount not to exceed $10,000.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Hertz Corporation: Council considered approval of an Agent Agreement with Hertz Corporation for the Augusta Municipal Airport.Reavis stated the document referenced signs and inquired about the types of signs that would be used.Shaw stated they would be mutually agreed upon, but would probably include signage bolted onto the building, on the windows, etc. in accordance with our sign regulations.Williams asked where the cars would be stored.Shaw stated they will be stored in the gated area of the fuel farm behind the main terminal.Reavis inquired about “rent here, leave here”.Steve Off with The Hertz Corporation stated there would be opportunity for one way rentals.Off stated the rentals would also be available for patrons of Parks and Ford of Augusta to use if they have a vehicle being serviced.Reavis inquired about the insurance coverage and asked if the personal injury coverage would be under our policy.E. Jones stated our Airport General Liability Insurance has coverage up to $1 million and includes personal injury.Shaw stated The Hertz Corporation would be listed as a co-insured on our policy.E. Jones stated it is pretty standard to add a co-insured.S. Jones asked if this would increase our premium.E. Jones and Shaw stated there should not be an increase.Partin stated we are looking at covering the vehicles while they are on our property, but that we will have no liability once it is rented as it falls on the renter to provide coverage at that point.Shaw stated that Tony Madrigal with Madrigal & Welch stated he thought it could easily be incorporated into our current policy.

Huddleston asked what type of training the city employees will receive.Off stated the employees will be trained on how to fill out the paperwork and that a Hertz representative will be available by phone to answer any questions should an issue arise.Off stated if the rentals grow, Hertz would provide their computers and software to process the rentals.Partin stated when the customer comes in they will manually fill out the contract and one of our employees will call in the renter’s credit card to make sure it can be used to reserve the rental.Off stated Hertz will process all billing.

Huddleston stated page 3 says the agency will be open as necessary to meet Hertz reservations.Off stated they will set their reservation hours with the Airport’s operating hours and that they are not asking the Airport to add any additional hours, only if they adjust the hours that they maintain the schedule to accommodate reservations already booked.S. Jones asked how many employees would be trained.Partin stated all the Airport Staff will be trained.S. Jones asked if there are any projections for use.Partin stated he believed they could rent four to five cars per week easily and that those numbers will grow.S. Jones inquired about the typical rental fee.Off stated it is on average $225 per transaction and the daily rate is $40-$45 a day depending on the size of the vehicle.Huddleston inquired about the monthly “Concession Fee Payments” listed in 4.1(d) of the agreement.Off stated if Hertz provided a service shuttle or courtesy vehicle to the Airport it would be deducted from their monthly payment to the City.Huddleston asked Mr. All what he thinks about the contract.Mr. All stated he had reviewed the contract and it is acceptable.

Reavis made a motion to approve the agent agreement with Hertz Corporation for the Augusta Municipal Airport.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.Shaw inquired about the timeline.Off stated as soon as the contract is signed the process would start immediately.

Convention & Tourism Grants:Reavis made a motion to approve the Convention & Tourism Grant for the Augusta Municipal Airport for the September 24th Fly In/Drive In in the amount of $500.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Malone made a motion to approve the Convention & Tourism Grant for the Kansas Museum of Military History for their September 24th Open House in the amount of $365.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

City of Mulvane:Council considered approval of a request from the City of Mulvane for a one time waiver of the Take or Pay provision in their Wholesale Water Contract. Malone asked if this is a result of the water lines for the casino.Keefer stated this is for the water supply for the entire City of Mulvane.Williams stated that they are saying because of the restrictions we put in place they may not be able to use what they will have needed within their take or pay amount.Malone inquired about the backwashing of the new lines to the casino.Keefer stated the new lines to the casino will have to be backwashed in mid-September.Reavis made a motion to approve the request from the City of Mulvane for a waiver of the take-or-pay provisions in their wholesale water contract for 2011.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Airport Advertising Policy:Malone made a motion to approve the Airport Advertising Policy at the Augusta Municipal Airport.Childers seconded the motion.Keefer asked if we have gotten any interest in advertising on our site.Partin stated that Bank of America and Air Capital have both shown interest.Shaw stated there was a mutual advertising opportunity with a Jet Chartering Company.S. Jones inquired about the pricing for the advertising.Shaw stated that was approved in the fee schedule in a meeting last April.Motion carried without opposition.

Voting Delegates:Childers made a motion to designate Williams, S. Jones, and Malone as voting delegates and Huddleston, Childers, and Shaw as alternates for the upcoming League of Kansas Municipalities meeting in Wichita.Huddleston seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Appointments:Council considered the appointment of Rob Kuhns to the Airport Advisory Board to fill the unexpired term of Jeff Karst.Huddleston stated if we have a board member that is not attending the meetings, it puts the council in a difficult situation because we do not have a policy in place for replacing an existing member.Huddleston stated we may want to establish a policy to address if we have a board member that does not actively participate.Williams stated these are mayoral appointments and if the mayor is aware of an issue it would be up to him/her to reappoint someone else and the council to approve the appointment.Williams stated if someone is not attending meetings they just need to let her know.Huddleston asked if this item should be tabled.Williams stated she would like to contact Karst before taking any action.Shaw stated there was no urgency to the appointment.

Reavis made a motion to approve the appointment of Martin Yeager to the Augusta Housing Authority to fill the unexpired term of Bill Shriver.Harper seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Levee Project:Williams asked Keefer to provide an update on the Levee Project.Keefer stated the meeting he, Shaw, and David All had with the Corp of Engineers and the Railroad regarding the levee project was very positive and that he hoped to see something on it by the end of the week.Keefer stated that after the meeting he had a conversation of major concern with the representatives from the Corp.Keefer stated the Corp’s engineer’s estimate for the levee project was $4.5 million and the lowest bid that met the specs was $6.7 million.Keefer stated the way the Corp handles the bidding process, they cannot renegotiate with the low bidder.Keefer stated that in his 27 years of city government he has never seen a bid come back 50% than the engineer’s estimate.Keefer stated there were items that were listed in the bid specs that were not in the bid estimate, for example the relocation of Thunder Road.Keefer stated there were also large differences in the estimates versus the bids for the bypass road, pump station, gravity drain, impervious fill, and the bids were in general more than 10% higher than the estimate on a lot of items.Keefer stated the bottom line is that the City will have to come up with an estimated $791,000 more for the project by the end of the month, but that we cannot have the debt secured by then but can use funds we have on hand and reimburse ourselves once the temporary notes are issued.Keefer stated the Corp has made their request for additional funding.Williams asked when we would find out if the Corp was awarded the additional funding.Keefer stated that he didn’t know, but if the Council was committed to this project he will bring something back to the next meeting.Rawlings stated that he bid on part of the project and that part of the problem with this bid is that it has such a drug-out timeframe.Rawlings stated some of the stuff he bid on was two years out.There was a consensus from the governing body to move forward with this project.

Arts Council:Keefer stated he received a letter from the Augusta Arts Council requesting the City return the API Loan administration fee it received in the amount of $1,500 per the loan policy for the short term loan they secured from API for purchasing their digital equipment.Keefer stated they were able raise all the necessary funds before the first payment was due and since there were no administrative actions by the City they asked that the fee be waived.Harper made a motion to waive the load administration fee in the amount of $1,500 from the Augusta Arts Council for their API Loan.Rawlings seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Final Comments:

Huddleston – Huddleston inquired about the sign at the car dealership for Lee Frye Auto.Keefer stated that Mr. Frye came in three or four weeks ago and stated he is going to open a used car lot.Keefer stated this may only be short term and that he is not sure of all the details.

Williams – Williams provided a NRP update and stated that there have been nine new builds, two builds not part of the NRP and two more builds pending.Williams stated this is three more builds than there was in 2010.

Reavis – Reavis stated he brought up abandoned signs at a previous meeting and that he has since met with staff and found that he missed an important “And” in the ordinance, so the issue has been resolved.

S. Jones – Jones inquired about the status of Wal-Mart.Keefer stated that he has nothing new to report on Wal-Mart, but that he does have some documents to forward the governing body regarding the property owners along the south end of Lulu.

Minutes: Harper made a motion to approve the minutes from the August 1, 2011 meeting.Reavis seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Appropriations:

August (8):S. Jones inquired about the payment American Control and asked if that was for the SCADA system.Keefer stated it was for the SCADA system and VFD’s and that there is one more payment.S. Jones inquired about the payment to Aqua Tech Engineering.Keefer stated the majority of the bill was for the design for the repair of the million gallon tank at the Water Plant.S. Jones inquired about the payment to Goedecke Engineering.Keefer stated it was for several things, but primarily sales tax projects and the levee project.S. Jones asked if we have completed the survey payment.Keefer stated we have not yet and that he is trying to get information from the refinery about the railroad.Reavis made a motion to approve Ordinance 8 in the amount of $924,830.80. Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.Childers asked if Gear Up, Inc. provided a personal guarantee and Keefer stated they have.

Visitors:

Russell Boone, owner of Scott’s Liquor, asked about the status of Sunday Liquor Sales.Keefer stated the 61 day waiting period is up tomorrow and if a petition is not received by 5 p.m. then the ordinance will become effective and they can start Sunday Sales this coming Sunday.Keefer stated that E. Jones will be sending out letters to all the impacted businesses on the 17th.

Mayor Williams recognized Michael McDermott for his long service to the community of Augusta and presented him with a certificate of appreciation.Williams told McDermott that he was appreciated for working to report on behalf of the council.McDermott quoted Will Rogers and said he “never met a council I didn’t like.”

New Business:

Public Hearing:Tom Leffler, 2901 Lakeshore Drive, stated it was disappointing that more people were not here to discuss the budget.Leffler stated he was concerned about the comments from council members regarding the $25,000 for the police vehicle and about transparency of the budget.Leffler stated $25,000 will not stop the Safety Department from doing their job but that maintaining equipment is a problem, so if the council is trying to make cuts why not also consider the $10,000 Hustler mower replacement too.Leffler stated he has not had a problem with transparency of the budget, but that he is concerned about people understanding it.Leffler commended Shaw for putting the budget information on the website and stated that he was disappointed there were not more hits.Leffler stated we have been very fortunate that we have not had to lay anyone off, let people go, cut services, etc. considering the valuations have gone down yet the mil levy has moved very little in the last four years.Leffler stated if you look at the pie chart on the City’s website you can see that only 25% of the property tax you pay comes back to the City and that the council may need to look at increasing the mil in the future to pay for improvements.Leffler stated that overall the City should be proud of the budget and that he hopes the council respects department heads and staff.Leffler stated it is easy to get a copy of the budget, that all he did was contact the city clerk and fill out a records request form and pay the fee for the copies.Williams stated several communities in our region have had to increase their mil levy because they do not have the reserves in place that we have.After no one else coming forward to comment on the budget, Williams closed the public hearing.

Williams stated that both budget options have less tax dollars than last year and that the valuation is down by $300,000.Williams stated with either option #1 or option #2 the mil levy would not increase more than 1/10th of a mil.Huddleston stated these funds are monies raised by taxation through a mil levy.Huddleston stated the differences between 2011 and 2012 show the General and Bond & Interest funds decreasing, but the Employee Benefit fund increasing by almost 15%.Huddleston stated we are reducing the amount of taxes to support the General fund and to pay off bonds, but we are pumping that money to the Employee Benefit fund.Keefer stated that he explained during the work session that the main reason for that was the increase in KPERS and health insurance costs and that there wasn’t as much carryover in that fund this year as there has been in the past.Keefer stated that the property tax delinquent rate is around 5% and that both KPERS and health insurance costs have increased as well as three or four employees changing from individual health plans to family plans.Keefer stated he planned for a 5% increase in health insurance, but that will probably not be enough and the employees will have to help cover the difference.Keefer stated the Bond & Interest fund was reduced as a result of the bond refunding that were done last year.Keefer stated that because the Electric fund debt payment was lowered, those funds were re-allocated as transfers from the Electric fund to other funds to help reduce property taxes.

S. Jones stated that she spent some time talking to Chief Brewer this afternoon about the vehicle rotation.S. Jones stated that her personal option is that cars today are built to last longer.S. Jones stated that she still maintains that in today’s environment we should shift the $50,000 to another department to help in other areas of town such as the Street Department.S. Jones stated she was not saying that we shouldn’t resume the rotation next year.S. Jones made a motion to move the $50,000 for two vehicles from the Safety Department budget to the Street Department.Motion died from lack of a second.

Malone stated that citizens are unhappy with the infrastructure and think that the streets are in disrepair.Malone stated the money should either be moved to the Public Works department or we need to talk about where the money can come from to repair our infrastructure.Keefer stated that the funds can be moved to another department, but we have to know so it can be included when our budget is submitted to the State.Huddleston stated if we transfer the funds they need to be transferred to departments where equipment is needed.Williams stated she had no doubt that additional funds are needed in several departments.Malone stated there is going to be a day when we need to consider increasing the mil levy to fix infrastructure.

Childers stated he read S. Jones article in the Augusta Daily Gazette and that he thinks her proposed solution is not a change from the status quo, rather robbing from one department to help another.Childers stated it is not saving any money.Childers stated that at the work session, S. Jones even stated that one day we will have to bite the bullet and increase taxes.S. Jones stated she is not opposed to replacing a vehicle with a record of maintenance issues and that she supposed we could debate opinions on when a vehicle should be replaced, but that she still stands firm that the money should be transferred to help where it is needed.Williams stated that both sales taxes and valuations are down and that everyone that sits on the council sees that there are issues with infrastructure, but given the current economic times we have to consider keeping the mil levy as flat as possible.

Malone made a motion to leave $25,000 in the Safety Department budget to purchase one vehicle and transfer the other $25,000 to the Special City/County Highway fund to assist with road repairs.Huddleston seconded the motion.Reavis stated that he assumes that all department heads had an opportunity to tell what equipment they needed considered for this budget.Reavis stated we are buying a new truck, mini-excavator, and high loader for other departments and no one batted an eye at that.Reavis stated each department has a plan for their equipment, including the Chief and he doesn’t think other departments are lacking in equipment or not getting what they ask for.Reavis stated he doesn’t think $25,000 will make any difference in street repairs.Reavis stated we wasted $80,000 on an intersection on a brick street that is no better than when we started.Reavis stated if we need the extra $25,000 in another department then we need to bite the bullet and add to the budget.Malone stated Brewer and Bill Webster were at the budget work session, but that no one was there to represent public works.

Keefer stated that new equipment is important, but it won’t help if we don’t have the staff to use it.Keefer stated we are also lacking in materials, supplies, training, and man-power, not just equipment.Keefer stated we are purchasing a used roller, new mini-excavator, high loader and several other pieces of equipment and that Public Works Superintendent Cy Ricker is very excited about the equipment included in the budget for his departments.Keefer stated a position was eliminated in the Street department a few years ago to cut costs.Malone asked if supplies can be purchased out of the Special City/County Highway budget and Keefer said yes.S. Jones stated that during the two budget work sessions she doesn’t recall hearing Keefer say we don’t have enough materials or man power to function.Williams stated we added a position to the Parks department.Keefer stated that he gets pounded on each year that “we cannot raise taxes” and that when people are happy that the valuations are going down it affects our ability to do provide services.Keefer stated he doesn’t feel comfortable asking for more when he is told the council does not want to increase the mil levy.Keefer stated he is not opposed to adding staff, but that he has to be cognizant of the resources that are available to us.S. Jones inquired about the cost to add another person.Keefer stated it could be about $40,000 including benefits.S. Jones stated we could surely find funds for that.Keefer stated the proposed budget amount cannot be increased after it has been published.S. Jones asked if we can adjust the budget at a later date.Keefer stated the council has the prerogative to direct him to move money from one department to another at any time, but that we would have to amend the budget.

Motion failed with S. Jones, Malone, and Huddleston voting in favor and Childers, Reavis, Rawlings, and Harper voting in opposition.Childers made a motion to approve Budget option #2 with a proposed Mil Levy of 39.782 and taxes in the amount of $2,110,100.Reavis seconded the motion.Motion carried with Childers, Reavis, Rawlings, and Harper voting in favor and S. Jones, Malone, and Huddleston voting in opposition.

Keefer stated if there is a clear direction from the council to add a staff person he can work those figures and provide them to the council in the future.Keefer stated the Sales Tax and Special City/County Highway budgets did have an increase in expenditures and that we are also planning on trying to do more with sales tax dollars next year.Keefer stated we need to start setting aside money for widening the South portion of Ohio.Williams stated there are a lot of upcoming expenses.Huddleston called a point of order and asked if a 4-3 vote is sufficient.Keefer stated it is because it is not an ordinance.

Reavis made a motion to approve Ordinance 2027 attesting to an increase in Tax Revenues for non-debt funds for 2012.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Keefer stated that in light of the discussion tonight we will plan on having a work session in April or May to get a feel from the governing body where you want to go with the budget.Keefer stated we would not have the valuation and other information from the County then, but we could get an idea of where you want to go with the budget.Williams stated the Capital Improvement Plan needs to be utilized in the budget discussions.S. Jones thought Keefer’s suggestion of an earlier work session was a very good one.Williams stated one mil is around $53,000 and that is something to consider and discuss with the community.

Spillway/Dam Project: Council considered bids for Temporary Note Financing of the Spillway and Dam Improvement Project.Dustin Avey with Piper Jaffray stated that the volatility in the market has been good for bonds and the low interest rate has allowed us to lower the bonds from $1.175 million to $1.135 million.Malone made a motion to approve the bid from Commerce Bank with a net interest cost of $16,146.Huddleston seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Reavis made a motion to approve Resolution 2011-16 authorizing the issuance and sale of the Temporary Notes.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

FAA Taxiway Project:Council considered bids for the construction of the FAA Taxiway Project.S. Jones stated Pavers Inc. has listed two sub-contractors and asked what they will bring to the project.Shaw stated FAA projects require a certain portion of a contract to be awarded to a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and that these sub-contracts meet that requirement.Shaw stated they typically will do seeding, dirt moving work, etc. and that he believes their duties are included in their packet.S. Jones made a motion to approve the bid from Pavers, Inc. in the amount of $1,095,989.89.Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Reavis made a motion to approve Supplemental Agreement #2 with Lochner (BWR Division) for construction engineering services for the FAA Taxiway Project.Huddleston seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Malone made a motion to approve the Grant Application for the FAA Taxiway Project and authorize the City Manager to execute the application and related documents.Huddleston seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.Shaw stated that due to FAA funding issues he does not when this project will start.

Spillway/Dam Project: Rawlings made a motion to approve the EPA Grant Application for the Spillway and Dam Improvement Project and authorize the City Manager to execute the application and related documents.Harper seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Frisco Depot Restoration:Harper made a motion to approve the proposal from William Morris Associates to prepare a grant application to the Heritage Trust Fund on behalf of the City for the restoration of the tile roof on the Frisco Depot.Childers seconded the motion.S. Jones asked what other projects William Morris Associates has grant experience on.William Morris stated they have a lot of grant experience and cited the $1.4 million hotel restoration in Eureka and various other HTF and TE grant projects.S. Jones asked if $74,000 is his estimate for the roof.Morris stated that would be for the roof only.Williams asked when the grant funds would be awarded and Morris answered November.Williams asked if this was awarded could we apply to the County for wind farm grants.Keefer stated that is a possibility and that he would talk to the County about that.Motion carried without opposition.

Bids:Council considered bids to paint the exterior of the original Water Treatment Plant Building.Rawlings asked how the bidders proved they had a business license, because a license is not required through the City.Shaw stated they provided an employer id number to show they are licensed in the state and that an LLC Certificate of Amendment would work too.Shaw stated we have discussed having a formal bid process in the past, and that we want to make sure they have insurance in case they are injured on our property and that we want to make sure they are licensed to do this type of work.Shaw stated we also want them to warranty their work and the paint.Shaw stated we can award it to the lowest bidder or to the lowest bidder that met the specifications.

Huddleston asked how you determine someone has a license, because you can be an LLC and not know anything about painting.Childers stated a sole proprietorship would only have a social security number.Williams asked where F & H Coatings is located and Shaw answered Kechi.Harper inquired about the references.Shaw stated he checked the references of those that provided them.S. Jones asked whose paint F & H Coatings uses.Shaw stated that he could not find that on the bid.S. Jones inquired about where the color choice came from.Shaw stated the colors match the part of the plant that has already been painted.

Childers stated he was comfortable making a motion but he is concerned about why the other bidders could not provide the information required in the specs.Huddleston stated we need to clarify the business license requirement.Williams stated that could have been rectified with a phone call to the City.Rawlings stated he does not think that F & H Coatings is a bad company and that he has had good experience working with them, but that he is just confused about the license requirement and believes it needs to be clarified such as requiring they be in business three years and provide project examples.Williams stated there is a general consensus the license requirement needs to be clarified.

Harper stated she refers P & G Painting and Kerry Unrein Signs to her customers and that she is very disappointed they didn’t provide all the information requested and we therefore cannot work with them.Childers made a motion to approve the bid from F & H Coatings, LLC in the amount of $8,836.77 for painting the exterior of the original Water Treatment Plant building.S. Jones seconded the motion.Motion carried with Rawlings opposing.

Zoning Classification Change:Malone made a motion to approve Ordinance 2028 changing the zoning classification for a tract of property located within our Growth Area from Agricultural-2 (A-2) to Residential-6D (R-6D).Childers seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Work Session:Malone made a motion to schedule a work session for 6 p.m. Tuesday, September 6, 2011 to review and discuss the recommendations from the Sanitation Committee.Reavis seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.Williams thanked those that served on this committee.

Spillway/Dam Project:Council reviewed and discussed the Spillway and Dam Improvement Project in regards to scheduling and dividing the scope of work into two projects.Williams informed Jay Anglemyer with MKEC that she had hoped we could look forward to filling the lake up in April, not May or June as outlined in the memo.Anglemyer stated the original schedule included bidding the project in late July and starting construction in September, but the discussion to split the project has delayed it some and shortening the window for construction will increase the contractor’s bid.Rawlings asked if any provisions have been made in case construction begins and the lake starts to fill up.Anglemyer stated that is part of the risk the contractor takes with this type of project.Williams asked if construction on the spillway and dam will be done simultaneously and Anglemyer said yes.Williams asked if when the project is bid can it be broken out by project but still bid as one project.Anglemyer stated there will be two sets of plans and that we can wait until it is put out to bid to decide to do it together.Williams stated splitting the project into two projects is not going to work.Anglemyer stated that he questions whether that will work too.Anglemyer stated the Division of Water Resources (DWR) states we have to be done with both construction projects in two years, but we could put them off until next year and there would still be enough time to complete the projects.Williams stated it seems like now is the best possible time to do it and that waiting one year will not give any added peace in the decision.

S. Jones asked Anglemyer to explain the coffer dam.Anglemyer stated the coffer dam had been discussed earlier on, but at the time we didn’t know we would have to go all the way to the bottom of the dam.And now that the lake is so low the coffer dam doesn’t need to be so high but it would add an addition $1 million in cost to the project.Anglemyer said the positive to a coffer dam is you wouldn’t have to drain the lake and deal with the fish population.

Huddleston asked what months we could expect not to need the lake for water supply.Keefer stated October to April of last year the total amount of water demand stayed below 2.5 million gallons per day.Huddleston asked if the bids were let when construction would begin.Anglemyer stated October.Huddleston stated we wouldn’t need the lake for a water supply at that time.Williams agreed and stated the watering restrictions would remain in place.Huddleston stated why not go ahead and do it now when the lake is so low instead of waiting for the unknown.Huddleston inquired about the fish salvage.Keefer stated we are going to include an alternate bid for removing the remaining fish carcasses and we will also have to deal with the blue algae with regard to the salvage.Keefer stated the council included funds in the temporary notes for re-stocking the lake.Reavis made a motion to move forward with the full project including the dam and spillway.Harper seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Raw Water Supply Line:Council reviewed and discussed the replacement of the City’s Raw Water Supply line from El Dorado.Willis Wilson with AquaTech Engineering provided an overview of the current line.Williams asked Wilson if he recommends replacement of the entire line or specific segments.Wilson stated the line within the refinery is worse that the line south of the refinery to Augusta.Keefer stated it would be better to replace the HDPE line under the refinery, but if the governing body chose to do the portion south of the refinery to Augusta he would recommend moving it out of the railroad right-of-way.S. Jones asked if the refinery would be amiable to us replacing the portion of the line under the refinery.Keefer stated that they probably would be since we just completed another project up there.Williams stated she is not clear if we should be looking at replacing the entire line or doing it in phases.Wilson stated if it had not already been replaced it all needs to be replaced.Williams inquired about the useful life of the water line.Wilson stated 50 years.

Malone asked if we could contact El Dorado to see if they are willing to help with the cost of the project since they would see an increase in their profits if we purchased more water from them.Keefer stated they would, but that he thought they would be more interested in a project running a waterline to Wichita.Keefer stated his concern with that project and that it would be that pulling 10 million gallons per day from El Dorado Lake and will have an effect on the lake levels.

Williams asked if as we consider our options if Wilson could provide pictures or maps.Keefer stated if the Council is interested in looking into this further, he would recommend Wilson review the calculations and provide some maps.Keefer stated he spoke to the County and they are open to us using their road right of ways and that we could explore some of the old pipelines to see if they are a viable option.Keefer stated we would also look into other funding sources such as a USDA loan, Revolving loan, and a ½ cent sales tax.Keefer stated if the Council wants to, we could look at it more seriously and determine if a $14 million project is viable.

S. Jones stated the $14 million doesn’t include the Mulvane waterline.Malone stated their line is worse than ours.Williams agreed but stated we need to repair the line to our citizens first.Childers stated he has spoken to approximately 43 people and they have asked why we haven’t looked at this before and he explained to them it comes down to the cost.Williams stated we replaced over 3,000 feet of the line in the last year.

There was a consensus from the Council to look into this matter further.Reavis stated if we are doing a work session he would also like to see information on the feasibility of filtering wastewater.Reavis stated that repairing the line is not going to guarantee we have water and that the technology is out there and something that we need to look at.Keefer stated that is definitely something we can look at, but that would open up a whole other set of issues we will have to look at.Keefer stated it would require wastewater treatment plant improvements, but that it is worth looking at.Keefer stated staff will work with Wilson to gather information and schedule a work session.

Final Comments:

Rawlings – Rawlings stated some of those newer to the Council make it sound like the Council hasn’t done anything and reminded them in the last several years we have installed a new tank at the Water Plant, built the Library, repaired many streets, improved the Water Treatment Plant and Wastewater Treatment Plant, put up new water towers, installed a new SCADA system, bought new electric generators, and several other things.Rawlings stated at his first council meeting he popped off that the “old timers” didn’t doing anything and that one of them told him they did the best they could with the tax dollars they had.Rawlings stated he wanted to remind the new council members and the public that the Council has not been sitting on their hands.

Reavis – Reavis stated that he was informed by someone that they had to go to Wichita to get a new remote for their cable box.Reavis stated the franchise agreement with Cox states that they have to maintain an office in Augusta.Keefer stated that Cox no longer has a franchise agreement with the City, only the State.Keefer stated that a State law passed a few years ago removed our power with regard to cable.Reavis stated it looks like the franchise agreement with Southwestern Bell has expired.Keefer stated we have a newer one with AT&T and we have a Gas franchise agreement.

Reavis stated there are four signs on 7th Street that qualify as abandoned signs under our sign ordinance.Reavis stated the sign apologizing for the road construction is still up.Williams stated it would make sense to her to keep it up on the West side since the Levee project will be beginning soon.Keefer stated that although the signs Reavis was referring to are abandoned, they are in good repair.Keefer asked if he wants the signs removed and then have a hole there.Reavis stated he is only looking at the ordinance we have in place and that we either need to enforce it or change it.Williams stated she remembered a provision for signs in good repair, but she agreed that we need to enforce the ordinance.Reavis stated section 1 article 2 reference abandoned signs and article 2c refers to their removal.Keefer stated there are several abandoned signs around town but asked if the signs look better with a big hole in them if the closed business’ sign is removed.

S. Jones – Jones asked if there has been any word from Wal-Mart.Keefer stated they have a conference call with KDHE tomorrow and that the other property owner on Lulu has agreed to work with KDHE and Wal-Mart to resolve this issue.S. Jones inquired about the Municipal Investment Pool.E. Jones stated she has moved money into the investment pool and has it spread out with 30 day, 90 day, 180 day and 365 day maturities.

Minutes: Malone made a motion to approve the minutes from the July 18, 2011 meeting and the minutes from the July 25, 2011 special meeting.Harper seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Appropriations:

July (7A):S. Jones inquired about the payment to Commerce Bank for $27,121.78.Keefer stated it was the annual lease/purchase payment for the street sweeper.Huddleston inquired about the payment to NetSystems for the NRP Marketing Plan.Shaw stated it was for updates to the www.movetoaugustaks.com website to remove advertising from the site.Shaw stated it is being paid out of the NRP Marketing fund.S. Jones inquired about the payment Records Retrieval.Keefer stated it was for printing of materials for the Safety Department.Huddleston made a motion to approve Ordinance 7A in the amount of $1,373,131.16. S. Jones seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

New Business:

Revolving Loan: A Public Hearing was conducted to take input on an application from Gear Up, Inc. for a revolving loan from the City of Augusta.Shaw stated that the revolving loan program was set up in the late 80’s as a result of a Community Block Grant the city received, and it is required to hold a public hearing prior to approving a loan agreement.Shaw stated the loan committee met on three different occasions to review the loan application and documents and that they recommend the approval of the loan.Josh Ogden, Owner/President of Gear Up Inc., addressed the council and stated he has lived in Augusta for six years and has been involved in this company for ten years.Ogden stated the company has been very busy and profitable, but they need working capital to hire people and buy products.Huddleston asked how long the company has been in existence.Ogden stated he has been involved in the company for ten years and purchased it in April 2011.

Huddleston inquired about the projected balance sheet and stated the other assets were listed consistently around $24,000.Ogden stated that is a tax loss that is carried forward and that the reality is that it will change.Huddleston stated the 2011 retained earnings account is blank.Ogden stated that was a typo and that he provided more up to date information to the board.Huddleston stated that prior to 2011 the company had not been profitable.Ogden agreed.Huddleston asked what type of corporation this will be.Ogden stated it was a C-Corp and that he elected to change it to an S-Corp for tax purposes.Huddleston stated he knows that people need funding to get a business going, but when you are dealing with a corporation the owners can walk away in a few years and we are left holding the bag.Huddleston stated there is very little collateral and asked if there was any reason we did not require a personal guaranty.Keefer stated we do require a personal guaranty.S. Jones asked Ogden if he is making any personal investment into the company.Ogden stated not of any substantial amount, but that he was investing sweat equity.Ogden stated he looks at this as his long term retirement plan and that he does not have an issue with personally guarantying it.

S. Jones inquired about the current receivables.Ogden stated they are $78,000.S. Jones asked who their current customers are.Ogden stated there is $30,000 in receivables for US based distributers, $25,000 outstanding to Madison in the U.K., and $10,000 to $15,000 to several e-commerce partners such as Amazon.com, etc.Ogden stated they have a couple of small export sales and master depot sales, and there is about $10,000 in receivables for various sporting goods chains.S. Jones asked where they at meeting orders.Ogden said they are caught up except for $5,000 in back-log.

S. Jones stated the report said that three patents had expired and that they own their trade names.S. Jones asked if those are trademarked and current.Ogden stated he wasn’t sure that they were trademarked but they have a long standing record of using the trade names.

Huddleston stated he was okay with the loan if Ogden would personally guarantee it.Ogden stated that was not a problem and that he believes in this company and thinks it can bring exposure to Augusta.Ogden states he lives here and would like to contribute to this community.Childers closed the public hearing.

Huddleston made a motion to approve the revolving loan agreement for Gear Up, Inc. in the amount of $30,000 with a personal guaranty.S. Jones seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Christ Lutheran Church: Council considered approval of a Mutual Use Agreement with Christ Lutheran Church for their parking lot.Childers stated that Keefer is a member of the church and has abstained from the negations and will be abstaining from this discussion.Shaw stated the old agreement expired in October 2010.Shaw stated that the pool staff uses this parking lot and that the terms are fair based on our usage.Huddleston asked if Shaw had any idea of how much the lot is utilized.Shaw stated that all the cars in the lot during the day in the summer season are for the pool.Shaw stated there is quite a bit of traffic in the lot when the pool is open.Dave McDonald from Christ Lutheran Church said he doesn’t have a scientific figure, but that they do not use it during the week and the lot is always full when the pool is in service.Huddleston asked if we are looking at the same agreement as in the past except the addition of 50% maintenance cost.McDonald stated they are asking for the City to pay 50% of the maintenance costs for the parking lot, but that the church bears all of the insurance costs.Huddleston stated the City paid for some maintenance of the lot a few years ago.Shaw stated that the governing body approved to spend $900 - $1,000 a few years ago.Huddleston asked McDonald if the church would object to having signs in the parking lot saying “Pool Parking” and McDonald said they would not have any objections.Shaw stated that payment for maintenance costs will be on a reimbursement basis only.Huddleston made a motion to approve a Mutual Use Agreement with Christ Lutheran Church for their parking lot. Reavis seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Bids:Council considered bids for improvements at the Wastewater Treatment Plant.Willis Wilson, Engineer with Aqua Tech Engineering, explained the glass fusion coated tank is recommended but was bid as an alternate because of the expected higher price.Wilson stated the bid came in better than expected and that the added cost would be paid back over time, so he recommended accepting Bid Alternate #1.Wilson stated Bid Alternate #2 was for contracting bypass pumping around the construction area.Wilson stated the city has pumps, but not available staff to run them.

Rawlings made a motion to approve the low base bid and two alternates from Donlinger & Sons in the amount of $513,400 for improvements at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, including the base bid and bid alternates #1 and #2.Harper seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.

Kelly/Ohio Intersection Project: Harper made a motion to approve 2011-15 authorizing a Project Agreement with the Kansas Department of Transportation for the Kelly and Ohio Intersection Project.Rawlings seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Wal-Mart Purchase Agreement:Reavis made a motion to approve an Amendment to the Purchase Agreement with Wal-Mart.Harper seconded the motion.S. Jones asked what the due diligence is that they are looking to complete.Keefer stated they had an environmental study done and they are having a meeting with KDHE to discuss how they can move forward.Keefer stated it is related to the old gas station that used to be on the property, but that he doesn’t have details except that the property owner has been working on this.Motion carried without opposition.

Dissemination Agent:Reavis made a motion to appoint the Bank of New York to serve as the Dissemination Agent for the Cottonwood Point Refunding Bond through the PBC.Rawlings seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Library Board:Harper made a motion to approve the appointment of Randy Craven to the Library Board.Malone seconded the motion.Motion carried without opposition.

Informational Memorandum:None

Final Comments:

Huddleston:Huddleston asked if it was possible for the Council to get a list of all property the city owns or rents and their descriptions.Keefer stated a list was provided a year or two ago, but that staff will locate and update the list and provide it to the governing body.Huddleston stated he was not clear if the governing body will see API expenses from the Economic Development Fund.Keefer stated the expenses from the Economic Development fund will show up on the appropriations ordinances.

Huddleston asked if staff is moving forward with getting the budget on the city’s website.Keefer stated he has not had any clear direction from the Council on this.Keefer stated he has looked at other city websites and how they are presented, but that several are set up to reflect GAAP requirements which we are not required to adhere to.Rawlings asked if we are going to have to hire someone to put it on the website. Keefer stated we will not, but that it will take time.Keefer stated he liked how Winfield published their budget, but that theirs was set up to reflect fixed asset accounting and they have a Finance Director that is a CPA which we do not have.S. Jones stated she thinks it is a positive step forward towards transparency and that tax payers have a right to see where their tax money is spent.Huddleston stated he thinks we should make it easier for them to obtain the information.Childers stated if they are not happy with what is published on the website and want a full copy they can get that at City Hall.Keefer agreed and stated he would like an opportunity to sit down and explain the budget to them because it is a lot of information.Keefer stated staff needs to get together to create something that is easy to follow.Rawlings stated he is open to transparency, but not open to staff spending so much time on this that other projects such as the levee get put off.Childers asked how long staff estimates it will take to put online.Shaw stated we could put it up as is tonight, but that a narrative will take some time.Childers stated that the narrative provided by Keefer for the work sessions would be a good tool to use.Huddleston stated it doesn’t need to be made complicated for the first year.Keefer stated Winfield has good tables and data on theirs that he would like to look at using.Shaw stated there should be an end goal such as a GFOA award for how we present the information, which is achievable but will take time.Harper asked if there have been a lot of comments from the public about transparency.S. Jones stated she has had people tell her they don’t know how the city’s money is spent and that she feels very strongly that it is important for the public to see how the money is spent.Huddleston stated he thinks people would appreciate seeing how much the utilities support the other funds.S. Jones stated there is an upside too because they will see how well their money is being spent.

Harper stated she is not opposed to putting the information on the website and improving on it each year.Rawlings stated he is not opposed either, but that he doesn’t want to steal away time from other projects such as the levee.Rawlings stated that in the 10-11 years he has been on the council, no one ever shows up to the budget works sessions.Huddleston stated we don’t need it to be award winning now.Malone agreed and stated that two or three years down the road we can strive for it to be better.Childers stated we should take the best shot at it now and work towards a goal.Reavis stated he doesn’t have strong feelings either way, but that he feels that sometimes a little information is worse than no information.Reavis stated he doesn’t know why anyone would want to know how much each department spends on diesel fuel, etc.

Keefer stated Winfield did not officially put their 2011 budget online until January 2011 when it took effect.Keefer stated if that is the governing body’s goal, that would give staff a few months to work on getting it out there.There was a consensus to give it staff’s best shot now and make the 2012 budget available at the beginning of 2012.

Huddleston stated that some of the city websites he has looked at have “Fact vs. Myth” on their website and stated it would be useful for some of the questions the council is repeatedly asked, such as why we don’t dig out the lake and why the material removed can’t be used for the levee.Rawlings stated he has given answers to those questions to the same people two or three times.Keefer stated some groups/people will not accept the explanation they are given, so they keep asking the question.Shaw stated it would be easy enough to add that information on there, but it is a matter of staff time.Shaw stated he does most of the updating of the website from home because he doesn’t have time during working hours.

Malone:Malone asked if there is any idea when the street by City Hall will be repaired.Keefer stated the leak has been fixed, but it has rained so it needs to dry out before it can be filled.Malone inquired about the status of the debt sheet he requested.Jones stated she should have it completed later this week.

Childers:Childers reminded the public to keep an eye on their neighbors during these hot temperatures to make sure they are okay.Childers stated if you are having difficulty paying your utility bill to contact the utility office to make payment arrangements.Childers stated the pool should be reopened on Wednesday.